A gunman was shot and killed early Sunday after he repeatedly fired at an Austin police helicopter that had been dispatched to investigate calls of someone shooting out streetlights, authorities said.
Police Chief Art Acevedo said the gunman, initially identified only as a 27-year-old white man, shot at the chopper for about 30 minutes before a police officer on the ground in a southwest Austin neighborhood fatally shot him.
At least one of the gunman's shots hit the aircraft's rotor blades.
The helicopter safely returned to its base. It's one of three in the Austin police fleet.
"What we had was an active shooter," Acevedo said. "It's hard to know what was going through people's minds when they start shooting at a police helicopter in a neighborhood like this."
It wasn't' immediately clear if the man lived in the neighborhood.
Authorities said they recovered pistols, rifles and shotguns they believe belonged to the dead man.
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Acevedo said the department received calls about 10:30 p.m. Saturday about streetlights being shot out. The helicopter was sent about 30 minutes later and came under fire about 20 minutes after it arrived.
He said when police attempted to "engage" the man, he continued shooting. An officer opened fire, killing the gunman.
