Grand Jury clears 3 APD officers in August 2021 shooting, use of force case

AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Tuesday, a Travis County Special Grand Jury concluded its review of an August 2021 shooting incident involving three Austin Police Department officers.

Travis County District Attorney José Garza said Officers Derrick Lehman, Jason Cummins and Michael Barba were not indicted by the jury.

According to a release, on August 19, 2021, APD officers responded to a 911 call of a man on a high-speed roadway at the 2300 block of South US Highway 183 Northbound. The officers arrived on the scene and found the man, later identified as Lashondell Gillespie, in the middle of the highway.

During the incident, the release said Gillespie walked toward the officers with what appeared to be a knife. Officers gave him commands to drop the knife, but he did not and continued to move toward the officers.

According to the, release Officer Lehman and Cummins then fired their APD-issued guns as Gillespie moved closer to them. He was struck and fell to the ground but did not drop the knife, according to officials.

The release said officers continued to command Gillespie to drop the knife, but he did not comply. Officer Barba then tased Gillespie as officers disarmed him.

After Gillespie was disarmed, officers approached him to render aid. He was then taken to the hospital and survived his injuries.

“The District Attorney’s office takes the work of presenting all facts and evidence to a grand jury very seriously,” said District Attorney Garza. “In this case, an independent group of members of the Travis County community heard the evidence and law and decided that Officer Lehman’s, Cummins’, and Barba’s conduct was not unlawful.”

According to the release, since January 1, 2021, 79 cases against police officers have been presented to the grand jury, and including this one, 48 times, the grand jury has returned a no true bill.