9 Creepy Details About 'Disturbed' Target Store Shooter

When officers arrived, they were met. with three people that were shot inside. the parking lot of Target. We have three. people that are deceased. This is a very. sad day for Austin. It's a very sad day. for us all. It happened out of nowhere. Three people shot dead, including a. four-year-old little girl, in a Target. parking lot in Austin, Texas. Happened. in broad daylight. And the suspected. shooter is a man with a reported history. of violence and mental illness. Here's. what we know so far. Welcome to Sidebar,

presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. I really hate to say this, but we have. another mass shooting that we have to. talk about. This is heartbreaking. It is. chaotic. We are still left with so many. questions. We do have some answers, too, but just trying to make sense of this is. very, very tough. I'm talking about the. shooting that happened in broad. daylight. Out of all places, a Target. parking lot in North Austin, Texas, left.

three innocent people dead, including a. 4-year-old child. The alleged shooter, this is a man, with a reported criminal. history and possibly severe mental. illness. It was a typical Monday, August. 11th, 2025. Back to school shoppers. filled the parking lot of a North Austin. Target. Parents, kids, employees, and. then gunshots. 2:15 p.m. Austin police. received frantic 911 calls reporting. there was an active shooter in the. parking lot of that Target store near.

Research Boulevard and Olan Road. And in. a matter of minutes, chaos exploded. By. the time officers arrived, three people. had been shot. One died at the scene, two more died later at the hospital. And. as for the alleged shooter, here's. Austin Police Department Chief Lisa. Davis. The suspect. fled the scene, stole a car from the. scene, took that car, wrecked that car, then hijacked another car. He was then.

found by Austin PD in South Austin where. he was taken into custody after a. tasing. >> It's incredible. It's incredible. They. launched a citywide manhunt. And we're. going to get back to the suspected. shooter in a minute, but let me just. talk about the victims, okay? We have. Hector Leopoldo Martinez Machuka, 24. years old, Target employee, known for. being friendly, hardworking. He was. simply collecting carts when he was. gunned down, just doing his job. Adam. Chow, 65 years old, was sitting in a.

vehicle with his wife and four-year-old. granddaughter. His wife survived. He did. not. And as for his granddaughter, Astred Fun, four years old, she was shot. in the back seat. She died shortly. after. Horrible. It's horrible. According to authorities, at this point, it appears the victims were just chosen. at random. And before we go any further, including what we seem to know right now. about the suspected shooter. I want to. bring on retired NYPD detective Dave. Sarnney, who is also an adjunct. professor at John J. College of Criminal.

Justice. Dave, this is an awful scene. Um, first, let's start. How do police. respond to an active shooter scene? How. do they process the scene? as for well thank you for having me. again this is seems to be so repetitive. the scene is when once you get the calls. and they're getting numerous calls. they're going in looking for you know. hopefully description of the shooter has. got gone out over over 911 so they're. going there in a a mass response to.

locate and stop the threat that's what. you're looking to do and that's the key. to all of this you're trying to stop the. killing stop the threat and I I repeat. this unfortunately so many times but. that's the mission of the police at that. time as far as far as aiding uh. individuals who've been shot. That's not. the concern at this point. The concern. is to find the shooter and stop that. stop the threat. >> Let's go back to the suspect. Okay, so. reportedly the shooter fled the scene in. the ch in the child's Toyota. Okay, that. alone pretty scary. But as you heard the.

chief of police say, the man had crashed. the stolen car. Then he ran. He didn't. run very far because apparently broke. into a nearby car dealership where he. allegedly assaulted employees, stole a. second vehicle, continued his chaotic. flight through Austin. He crashed again, and this time when police found him, he. was reportedly naked, clutching a Bible, and reportedly claiming he was Jesus. Officers apparently tased him, took him. into custody. So, let's talk about the. suspect. Okay, Ethan Blaine Nineker, 32.

years old. USA Today reporting he worked. at a restaurant. He lived by himself. But now I want to get into more of a. detailed timeline per reporting from USA. Today. Okay. So following the shootings. at 2:15 p.m. Again, the suspect Ethan. Nineker. They say you go to 2:20 p.m. So. while driving the 4ERunner, Nineker. allegedly encounters a parked water. truck, opens the driver's door, assaults. the driver, forces him out of the truck. before attempting to operate the vehicle. himself. now apparently couldn't figure.

out how to drive it, then chase down a. man while holding a pistol only to. return the 4ERunner, drive away. 2:25. p.m. Police stated that Nineker, again, the suspect, crashed the 4ERunner into a. Volkswagen, ended up on top of an SUV, exited the 4ERunner, attacked the. Volkswagen's driver, pushed her out of. the car, took control of the vehicle, drove off. 2:34 p.m. Authorities say he. then approached a Whimo autonomous car,

tried unsuccessfully to break inside. before getting back inside the. Volkswagen and fleeing. 2:37 p.m. Police. reported that he hurled a brick through. the window of a house belonging to. somebody that he knew from Bible study. 2:58 p.m. Austin police then get a call. from a South Austin resident who sees a. man running into a portable restroom and. then leaving it completely naked. 3:06. p.m. Officers locate the suspect, Nineker, who was reportedly naked,

holding a Bible. And when he refused to. obey their orders, police deployed a. taser, took him into custody. The. clothing that was matching the suspect's. description, including a Hawaiian shirt, was found inside that portable restroom. Dave, talk to me about this chase and. talk to me how police respond to a chase. like this. >> Well, this is where you're going. And it. it's it's manic. I mean, the shooter is. a manic individual going from place to. place and they're just trying to track.

down the 911 calls and that's how. they're trying to coordinate somehow. about this individual. So you have a. description, you have a direct possible. direction of flight in the vehicle, you're trying to locate that vehicle. Now he's moved on to other vehicles. So. you're trying to coordinate a way in. which where was he last seen and because. we won't know where he's is until we. locate him. And that's the one thing. about this. He's all over the place. I. mean, he's gone from car to car damaging. windows on this absolute manic violent. spree at this point. And it's fortunate. for the most part they were able to.

locate him. I mean, that's really what. it comes down to. We could unfortunately. the deaths you can't stop. That was the. one thing. But they did were able to at. least apprehend him before any more. killing would take place. The taser is. going to be utilized. I'm going to. presume since he's naked, they didn't. see a weapon on him. They thought that. was a way of stopping him or at least. limiting his movements by doing that. taser. I can never tell when people the. type of force you use. They utilize that. type of force, electronic device such as. a taser. So that's what they did. Would. it have been reasonable to shoot him at.

that point if they saw the gun? If they. saw the gun, there's a chance that could. have happened. But in this case, they. did use a taser. >> By the way, we we'll get into a little. bit more about uh mental health here, but it's so random. It's so strange. There is a part of it where if the. allegations are true, it seems planned. It seems there was a goal here of. whatever kind, but the escape was. incredibly sloppy. Does that give. investigators a sense of what the plan.

was here? Well, that's the thing when you these. act these shooters unfortunately do. start with an agenda of some sort and. they they execute their agenda and then. the escape is the next part and this is. one of those where he had an idea of. what he was going to do. He shot these. people he had no relationship with. I. don't know why he did what he did there. but he did execute those individuals. He. did murder them. And then after that, this would be something that would come. out maybe at trial as to when if and. when there is a trial as to why he.

lifted the way he did afterwards. >> What is the public's role in alerting. authorities to apprehend a suspect? Obviously, you have to be careful. You. don't want to approach somebody like. this, but you have to imagine it was the. reporting of people in real time that. their police are able to locate this guy. and track him down and arrest him in a. very quick uh in very quick fashion. Yes. And that's the thing. I mean, we. tell people 911, 91 description, location, keeping yourself, you know, keeping yourself safe, keeping yourself.

out of harm's way. You know, some people. want to be that good Samaritan in this. situation. I can't tell people what not. to do, but one of the best things they. should do and must do is call 911 with. what's going on, a clear, accurate. description what's going on, accurate. description of the perpetrator involved. >> Let's talk about this guy, Ethan Blaine. Nineker. Right. So, as I said, 32 years. old, worked at a restaurant, lived by. himself. That's the reporting from USA. Today, no stranger to law enforcement. Apparently, he had been arrested. multiple times in the past. We're.

talking about charges of domestic. violence, DUI, criminal mischief, assault, drug possession. He was. previously convicted several years back. of assault causing bodily injury in a. family violence case. He was apparently. sentenced to just a short jail sentence. for that one. Other cases were either. dismissed or unresolved and we were also. able to locate that information on. Truthfinder, the powerful background. checker that we use to verify details in. our stories. I will tell you the. criminal history section is long. It is.

full of charges that he has faced over. the years. And by the way, Long Crime, we partner with Truthfinder. We use it. to get details on people involved in our. stories. But even if you don't work in. true crime, it can be an excellent. resource to give you some peace of mind. It's one of the largest public records. search services in the United States. And with a paid subscription service, you can get access to unlimited reports. about almost anyone. And by the way, right now, you can get 50% off of your. first month of confidential background. reports. Just go to. truthfinder.com/lcsidebar. And beyond Nikker's criminal history,

there is reported mental illness. In. fact, the New York Times reported that. Chief Davis had said that Nineker had. been placed on emergency holds in the. past. We're talking about mental health. reports, which begs the question, how. did a man like this have access to a. firearm? Let alone, how was he out? But. how did he have access to a firearm if. he actually did do this? And I will tell. you, it's a question without a clear. answer, at least not yet. Anyway, Dave,

do you have an answer? >> Well, from my understanding that that he. might have uh obtained this gun from a. family member. I don't know how that. happened, but it comes back to the same. issues we go over over time and time. again. The police can do what they can. to make the apprehensions and arrests. for his prior crimes. We're going to. talk about the crimes. Then what happens. now is the criminal justice system and. discretion is a big vital part of the. criminal justice system is this. discretion. It's discretion up to the. prosecutor and the judge whether or not. to pursue this case further. And here's.

what comes down to it. I think you have. to start now looking at when people are. arrested and have had a mental history. there need to be remanded stay in. custody pending an overall psych. psychological evaluation so then we can. determine whether or not they should. remain incarcerated to get the help they. need. We keep letting people out with. mental health issues. I've arrested. people with mental health issues. They're back out doing the same thing. over and over again. We see this time. and time again. There needs to be.

legislation in dealing with mentally ill. people who have been in contact with the. police, who have been arrested, who have. a mental history where they have to be. evaluated. It's a must to evaluate and. remand them pending that evaluation. because more times than not, we're. seeing people are not getting the me the. mental health help they need once they. leave the custody of corrections or the. custody of the police. They go out, do. their own thing, and this is what. happens. And we're seeing it more often. than not. Not every person with mental. health issues is a criminal, but we're.

seeing many criminals with mental health. issues that are not being addressed when. they are in the custody of the criminal. justice system. Let me explore that a. little bit more because my understanding. is in Texas, they don't currently. require background checks on private. firearm sales, so including sales at gun. shows. And even people with mental. illness or criminal histories, there. could be an avenue where they end up. getting weapons. Now the law, my. understanding is says you can't sell to.

somebody who was adjudicated, right, legally declared mentally ill or. involuntarily committed. There will be. people who question why Nineer wasn't. institutionalized. And Texas law. generally, again, my understanding, only. allows involuntary mental health. commitment under strict criteria. It's. kind of a high burden. You have to have. a violent act to have occurred if they. pose an imminent danger. Now Dave, do. you see this as a very very unfortunate. opening taking these allegations as. true? >> Yeah. And that that's you know when it.

comes to gun laws and again we go back. and forth you know do you have a right. to a firearm? You know every state has. the authority and ability to regulate. their possession of firearms. New York. State has a very stringent one. Texas is. obviously less. So would this have. stopped him from committing this crime? We're not sure. you know, the allocation. of, you know, guns are out there legally. and illegally. That's the one thing. People who who obtain firearms most of. the time use them for legal purposes. I. have a firearm, a retired detective. I.

have a firearm and I treat that firearm. with respect and I lock it up on the. locking key when it's not available to. me or when it's not necessary, not avail. not needed if I'm not doing something. with it, you know, working or or target. practice. But, you know, when it comes. to that, we have to maybe look at mental. health as being a a way of avoiding. people from getting that firearm. But, it's gonna have to be documented. And we. have documented to we have documented. things where he had emergency holds, but. he's released. So, they may not appear.

on a particular form if he actually. would obtain a gun permit legally. And. I'm talking about Texas in general. New. York, it takes a very long time to get. one. It's not very easy. But Texas has. has less stringent laws with that. Would. this be a precursor to maybe dealing. with a mentally ill and having a red. flag law when it comes to domestic. violence? That's a possibility, but we. just keep seeing time and time again. legislation should be made and it. doesn't seem to go through for whatever. per whatever reason. >> And as for a motive, uh, police sergeant. Nathan Ston said there quote was really.

no reason whatsoever given. Dave, how do. you get information from the suspect. himself here? Particularly if you're. talking about uh a potential history of. mental illness. >> Well, you're going to go uh back to his. friends, colleagues, co-workers, family, if you can get an idea of where he was. going. Apparently, a a coworker of his. said he was rambling on kind of manic. when he last saw him. Uh he said this.

is, you know, people with mental illness. aren't always doing crime. And that's. what I think will probably happen here. He's always had an issue, but he has. been arrested. He has been convicted. He. has a mental history. We need to look. and address the situations as they. stand. You know, law enforcement, police. can only do so much and make the. apprehension. It's up to the. correctional correctional facilities, the correctional system, and the court. system to deal with these individuals. better. Will he get will you get a. better answer? They probably did uh they. probably throw blood to find out if he's.

on any medication or any drugs or. anything along those lines. But when. he's deemed mentally ill and he is maybe. deemed incompetent, that might be a. problem down the road for trial. But the. reality is we're seeing this over and. over again. We need to find ways in. which you have to. >> meet out that justice. You have to meet. it out by getting people the help they. need. >> Obviously, you can talk to the people. who are around him for more information. Um but getting information from him. himself could be particularly difficult. Obviously if he if he lawyers up um if.

there's a competency issue, you run into a roadblock. But even if. assuming you don't and assuming he talks. freely with you, well there could be a. legal issue put forward by a defense. attorney whether he was knowingly and. voluntarily making statements if he has. some sort of mental illness. But the d. the question becomes finding out. information from the suspect themselves. You know, look at the state in which he. was reportedly found naked holding the. Bible saying he was Jesus. H how does.

how do law enforcement get credible. information from a suspect themselves? >> Well, that's the problem. If this person. is mentally ill, you could sit there and. have a conversation. You can't interview. him, interrogate him, and get a a feel. for for where he's where he's coming. from. A little rapport building and the. like. But, you know, it's going to. depend on what he tells you. And if it's. going to be rambling statements, that's. something that's going to be utilized. for court purposes later on. And it may. not get you the absolute answer as to. why he did what he did. That's where.

what he says. Is there documentation? Did he write anything down? Did he put. anything in social media? Did he have. something else to adhere to finding out. where his mindset was to do this? Now, he had mental illness. We we understand. But what drove him to randomly shoot and. kill people? We we may never know that. answer, you know, may get something from. him, but is that going to be considered. a valid answer when it comes to. prosecution, but. >> and they could look through his digital. devices, right? They could get a warrant.

for that. They could get a warrant for. his house. That may provide a little bit. more information. >> Yeah, that definitely. That's what I. said when you talk about a social media. You're going to scrub. We can do a. propology like we always do and that's. the thing that doesn't change but you. always want to get it for the word of. mouth from him and you know we've seen. this again with other active shooters. They do leave things behind to give a. motive. It's horrific to see to go. through this but this is what we do all. the time. It's nothing that we haven't. done as investigative step to find out.

the reason as to why because reality is. investigators are truthf finders. We. want to find out the truth as to what. happened, but given the fact of his. mental state, will it be absolute? That. will that all depends. >> Now, as of this recording, Nineker is. being held at the Travis County Jail. He. faces multiple charges. We're talking. capital murder by terror threat, capital. murder of a person under 10 years of. age, firstdegree murder. We've been. talking about what the investigation. looks like now in order to understand if.

he did this, why he did this, building. more evidence towards a legal case. But. we have to talk the aftermath, right? So, a GoFundMe was set up for Astred. Fun's family. Quickly raised tens of. thousands of dollars for funeral costs. Target issued a statement expressing. heartbreak and outrage offering. counseling services to employees and. their families. The Chow family released. a statement to ABC News saying that Adam. Chow was the heart and steady backbone. of the family. The family said Astrid, who referred to her grandfather as Gang.

Gang, was pure silliness and joy. She. loves singing, dancing, making us laugh. We are heartbroken. Miss them both so. much. Mayor Kirk Watson said, "This is a. devastating situation and my heart is. with the victims and their families. While this remains an active and ongoing. investigation, what I'll say is that. this was a sickening, cowardly act of. gun violence. There were vigils that. were held. There were flowers that piled. up outside the store. Strangers mourned. for people they never met. And it's a.

reminder uh yet again that the victims. of mass shootings are more than. statistics. They're someone's child, someone's co-orker, someone's. grandparent, and they have become. tragically familiar. This one stood out. for the sheer randomness that we're. talking about. But I I will tell you. right now, Dave, when you speak to the. families, when you speak to the victim's. families, what is this journey like for. them? H I I you can't even imagine. This is.

something that's you never want to you. never want to deal with uh death. notifications. You never want to deal. with dealing with having this because as. a as an investigator, it's probably the. hardest thing to do and they never train. you and they never really educate you in. how to do it. Each person handles it. differently and each death is severely. tragic in the sense of the way the. violent acts that happened to them to. end their lives and then trying to you. know trying to uh comfort at least to. empathize. The difference between.

sympathy and empathy is very important. Empathize and try to understand what. they're going through and be there as. best you can throughout the process. But. when when it comes to at least police. work, this is only unfortunately one of. dozens that will that they deal with. every day. This families these families. going to have to deal with this the rest. of their lives. And I don't think. there's anything that really heals that. or makes them feel better. You could do. the best you can as an investigator, as. a as a police and along those lines and.

giving all these kind words and the. like, but they never get away from this. They never is going to see that family. member ever again. And I it it it it. hurts the soul as an investigator that. you know you do everything you can, but. regardless of what you've done, they're. still going to have to deal with the. death of their their loved one. >> Let me ask you this. We have a situation. where they're going to be investigating. him. They're going to look into, like. you said, his friends, family,

co-workers, whoever might be there. It's. very difficult for people to know if. they saw something, what a warning sign. is, a red flag, when people should. report something. They may come out now. and say, "You know what? Now that we're. looking at what he's accused of doing, I. I have some information." But in your. perspective, when should people reach. out to authorities? When should you say, you know what, you don't want to be too. premature, false alarm, uh, don't get. involved, versus if you see something, you say something. It's hard to know.

that line, right? And I don't know if. people saw any kind of warning signs. here per se. Um, but tell us what we. should be thinking about. >> Should always think, you know, if a. person's changed drastically, their. emotional state, uh, they become more. agitated. You're seeing with precursors, we've seen throughout the years active. shooter protocols, and not only active. shooter protocols, but active shooters. and how they become that active shooter. We can always see the the beginnings, the the the change in emotions, becoming.

more violent, uh depression, things of. that nature. And but you know, the. reality is someone has to reach out. I. mean, you can't let this go anymore. because we always say, you know, we. never know when they're going to commit. that commit that shooting, but we always. see what's coming on beforehand. And. that's why when you deal with people who. have mental illness and they've been in. the custody of of a police department, police agency or the criminal justice. system, we need to look at them prior to. this is where you have to do it. We.

can't do it the aftermath because we. keep seeing you have over over and over. again the same issues. But if they have. been in touch or been contacted or have. been involved in the police by being. arrested, here is the way in which we. can really shape and form the betterment. of society and getting these people the. help they need before they commit this. these type of crimes. He was already. arrested for violent domestic incidents. He already was DOI. He already had. emergency holds on them. Now we have to. start really assessing that. We have all.

of the the tools there and availability. We just have to apply the resources and. the availability of mental health. workers in the correctional facilities. A real evaluation, a psychological. evaluation that you can bring to the. judge, bring to the prosecutor, decide. whether or not to remand him pending a. mental health evaluation and pending his. his or her release from custody because. they've determined that he or she is. going to be a danger to themselves and. or others. His coworker thought he was. rambling, but they all kind. that oddity now became a mur uh multiple.

murders. So, watch what people are. doing. Be cognizant of that and make the. notifications accordingly. >> Dave Sarnney, thank you so much for. coming on. Uh I wish we were talking. about a different case, but this is the. reality we live in right now with this. kind of uh shooting. We'll hopefully get. more information and more answers to a. lot of the questions that we have. Appreciate you taking the time. >> Thank you very much and stay safe. All. right, so before we wrap things up, quick programming alert. I'm actually. going to be hosting Quomo tonight on.

NewsNation at 8:00 PM Eastern. Hope. everybody can tune in. One of the things. we're hoping to do if we have time is. take your calls live. So if you have any. questions, any comments about any of the. true crime stories that I've covered. here on Sidebar. Would love to talk to. you live. That's 8:00 p.m. Eastern. tonight on NewsNation. I'll be filling. in for Chris Guomo. And that's all we. have for you right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining. us. And as always, please subscribe on. YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next.

time.