Updated — Nov. 28, 1:29 p.m. ET
The name of the deceased suspect from this mornings shooting has been identified as Larry McQuilliams (DOB:12-13-1964), White male.
A gunman opened fire on several government buildings in downtown Austin, Texas early Friday morning and set off a bomb scare just as potentially thousands of people were leaving the area's popular bar scene, police said.
There were no injuries and the attacker, a male in his 50s, was killed by a bullet fired either by police or his own weapon, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said.
The gunman, who began his spree around 2:22 a.m., fired outside at the federal courthouse, the Mexican consulate and the police department's headquarters, Acevedo said.
A dramatic moment ensues at the police headquarters when a sergeant, a 15-year veteran of the force, fired a single shot at the gunman with one hand while placing two police horses into their stable with the other hand, Acevedo said.
The "sergeant was right there, getting ready to put the horses away for the night...as he held two horses with one hand he discharged at least one round with a single-handed shot," Acevedo said at an 11 a.m. news conference.
It's unclear if the bullet from the sergeant, identified by KVUE-TV as Adam Johnson, is what killed the gunman, Acevedo said. The gunman may have also taken his own life, or he may have died as a result of both possible actions, Acevedo said
if the sergeant did kill the gunman, "that would be one heck of a shot," Acevedo said.
NBC News has a video of a robot checking the suspect's car for a bomb.
KVUE reported that this is a photo of the sergeant who shot at the gunman:
.@KVUE did a story with Sgt. Adam Johnson several weeks ago. Here are some stills from our footage.
NBC News has a video of a robot checking the suspect's car for a bomb.
The scene this AM as @Austin_Police brought in bomb robot to investigate shooting suspect's car. Presser live in 5!
More images: Shot-up propane tanks near shattered window at Mexican Consulate
Some images from shooting scenes: Damage at federal courthouse, shell casings on pavement outside
close as we can get. that's the shooter's white van with all it's contents strewn on the street #atxshooting @KVUE
@KVUE SWAT in my neighborhood
Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs "expresses its profound concern and condemns the incident."
"As a result of the first inspection, damage to the exterior and access to the Consulate were detected, apparently as a result of gun shots. A thorough evaluation of the damage to the facilities is being conducted. At this moment, there is no evidence that the gun shots were directed exclusively to our consular representation," the ministry said in a statement.
The first calls about the gunman came in at 2:22 a.m., police said.
"That's a busy time right after bar closing, with hundreds if not thousands of people leaving our bars," Acevedo said. People said they thought the gunfire sounded like an automatic weapon, though police are still investigating if the gunman had one.
For the next 10 minutes, people reported gunfire at the federal courthouse, Mexican consulate and police headquarters. The gunman also allegedly used green canisters use to set camp fires to ignite a small blaze at the consulate, which went out on its own, police said. The gunman also shot at a nearby bank.
"The suspect was discharging a fusillade, a lot of bullets, at headquarters," Acevedo said. In all the gunman discharged hundreds of bullets, he said.
That's when the sergeant, at the horse stable, returned fire. At that point the gunman 'went to the ground" Acevedo said.
Officers grabbed the gunman and started dragging him away from his van, Acevedo said, because they say suspicious cylinders inside.
"You have to think about IEDs and possible explosive devices," Acevedo said. They later determined there were no explosives on him.
While they were dragging him, officers "noticed a vest on this suspect" that could have been strapped with explosives, Acevedo said. They dropped the suspect and called in the bomb squad.
Acevedo said he "gives thanks no one but the suspect is injured or deceased."
Police are now searching through his residence, Acevedo said.
The suspect is a resident of Austin and has a criminal history, Acevedo said. While there's no firm motive yet, Acevedo said he speculated that the gunman was upset over the national debate over immigration and firearms.
A "political discourse becomes very heated and very angry and sometimes the rhetoric is not healthy," Acevedo said. "I would suspect and i would venture...that the political rhetoric might have fed into this."
This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.