Listen
It’s been more than two weeks since the deadly shooting at Buford’s in downtown Austin that killed three, wounded more than a dozen, and affected countless others. For mass shooting survivors, recovery can be a slow process. We’ll have the story of a mother and daughter going through that very thing following a shooting last year at an Austin Target store.
An autonomous vehicle in Austin blocked emergency vehicles trying to reach the shooting scene at Buford’s. We’ll look at why a lack of regulatory guidelines could mean more of these kinds of incidents.
Organizers of the annual Cesar Chavez parade and celebration in Austin have canceled the event after allegations against the labor union organizer have been made public. We’ll take a look at how this story is developing.
Plus, it’s the last day of South By Southwest 2026. We’ve got the story of one Austin artist working over the past few days for his big break.
Austin Signal is made possible by listeners like you. You can support our work by making a donation at supportthispodcast.org
The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:08] We are less than three weeks removed from the deadly shooting at Bufords in downtown Austin that killed three, wounded more, and impacted countless others. For the survivors of shootings like this, recovery and growth after the incident can be a slow process. We’re going to have the story of a mother and daughter going through that very thing following a shooting last year at an Austin target, and an autonomous vehicle in Austin blocked emergency response that was trying to help out in the aftermath of this month’s shooting at the Buford’s. Why a lack of regulatory guidelines could mean more of these kinds of impediments, that’s on today’s show.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:41] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jerry Quijano.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:46] Plus, it’s the last day of South by Southwest 2026. Today we’ve got the story of one Austin artist working over the past few days for his big break. Hear that story up next on Austin Signal. Howdy out there, you are tuned in to Austin Signal, I’m your host Jerry Keehanel. It is Wednesday, March 18th, thank you for making us part of your day. We’re going to start the show with some breaking news out this morning. Organizers of the annual Cesar Chavez Parade and Celebration here in Austin have canceled the event after allegations against the labor union organizer have been made public. Chavez died in 1993. The accusations detailed in a New York Times investigation include sexual assault and abuse against women and girls, including civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers Union with Chavez. The 25th Caesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta Marcha de Justicia celebration here in Austin was scheduled for March 28th. In an Instagram post, event organizers said the decision was made after careful consideration. We are working to report more on this story and we’re gonna have that for you at KUT.org and on the KUT app. The video was shared widely throughout social media on the night of the Buford shooting in the middle of the street in downtown Austin. A Waymo vehicle was stuck unmoving and blocking an ambulance on its way to help victims of the shooting. In the video you can hear someone say, quote, this is why we shouldn’t have self-driving cars. Since that video has gone viral, calls for accountability have come from city officials and residents alike. City Councilmember Paige Ellis said in a post on X, quote, public safety must always come first. Austinites are tired of being treated like guinea pigs when it comes to new technology on our roads, especially when lives are on the line, end quote. And since Waymo became widely available for city residents to use last March, the city has virtually been the autonomous vehicle testing ground of Texas, with Tesla, Zooks, Volkswagen, and others now on the streets. So what does this mean for the human drivers operating their cars here on the Austin streets? Well, for more, we’re talking with Cooper Lohr. He’s a senior policy analyst in transportation and safety at Consumer Reports. Hi, Cooper, thanks for being on the show.
Cooper Lohr [00:03:09] Yeah, I appreciate you having me.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:10] So I’m curious what you were thinking, what was going through your mind when you saw the video of this Waymo car blocking EMS. What was in your head?
Cooper Lohr [00:03:18] You know, I think the first thing that went through my mind is that, you know, we’ve seen this happen before, right? San Francisco, for instance, has dealt with this issue, you know AVs interacting and blocking emergency responders for quite some time now. So that was sort of my first thought when I saw this was, you now, here we go again.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:37] And we’ve had sort of issues with autonomous vehicles here in Austin blocking up roads, not necessarily Waymo’s, but other cars that have been tested here on Austin streets. Have we seen these kinds of issues where an autonomous vehicle is blocking a really, let me say like high pressure situation, like you mentioned the other cases in San Francisco in place. Sure. This was a shooting here in Boston. Was that the same thing in these other places?
Cooper Lohr [00:04:03] Fairly recently, actually, I think it was last December in San Francisco, there was a fire that broke out at an electrical station that caused massive outages across the city in San Fransisco and it knocked out power to much of the city and subsequently traffic lights were down. So Waymo’s sort of stalled, thousands of Waymo sort of stopped in the middle of the road and were blocking intersections and were actually keeping firefighters from I’m getting. Getting to the electrical station to respond to the fire, right? So yeah, that’s a fairly recent situation.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:38] Well, here in Austin, City Councilmember Paige Ellis called for a meeting with Waymo, but autonomous vehicles fall under state regulations here in Texas, not the city of Austin. Do you see that as an issue going forward as more and more of these autonomous vehicles hit our streets?
Cooper Lohr [00:04:53] Yeah, absolutely. Especially with an absence of like really strong guardrails at the state level. Right. Um, you know, I think back to, you know, Austin recently as well as had issues with Waymo’s passing stopped school busses, you with kids getting on and off the school bus, Austin ISD, you know then asked Waymo, Hey, can you maybe pause operations during school hours. You know, until you fix this issue and Waymo said no, and essentially the city couldn’t do anything about it. So, I mean, in absence of strong guard rails, I think it’s absolutely essential that, that cities and local leaders, um, have some authority to, to, regulate these vehicles as they continue to deploy throughout communities.
Jerry Quijano [00:05:37] Yeah, I’m glad you mentioned that Austin ISD situation, because that, in addition to what we saw happen with the Buford shooting, and just kind of a general, seemingly a general distrust of autonomous vehicles, there seems to be a feeling of a loss of a trust. We see that echoed, of course, in the video, but among city officials here in Austin. How do you think that can be sort of repaired?
Cooper Lohr [00:06:00] Well, I think it really does start with a responsible approach to deployment. You know, what we’ve seen Waymo be fairly successful at is going into states and getting them to loosen or rewrite laws in order for them to deploy or get testing off the ground. But what that really needs to be paired with, and honestly, what should come first is strong regulatory guardrails, right? So we’re making sure that these systems are safe before they’re deployed on streets, right. And there’s some oversight into that process.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:30] And without those regulatory guidelines, do you think that we will continue seeing incidents like this, unfortunately?
Cooper Lohr [00:06:36] Yeah, I mean, I do think we will, right? Because right now, in a lot of places where we operate, there’s a fairly reactive framework, right, where there aren’t a lot pieces in place to be proactive, again, in making sure that these vehicles, that these systems, these technologies, are safe before they’re out on roads.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:56] We have been speaking with Cooper Lohr. He is a senior policy analyst in transportation and safety at Consumer Reports. Cooper, thanks for coming on the show.
Cooper Lohr [00:07:04] Yeah, appreciate it. Have a good one.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:15] News of this month’s deadly shooting at Buford’s in downtown Austin profoundly affected many Austinites, but for survivors of other shootings like this, that trauma stays with them every single day. One Austin woman and her daughter know this firsthand. They are the focus of a story from Andrea Ball, a reporter with the Austin Current. Andrea, thanks for talking with us.
Andrea Ball [00:07:36] Thank you for having me.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:37] So tell us about this woman and her daughter. Who are they?
Andrea Ball [00:07:40] So they are Austin residents. The mom is a speech therapist. The daughter is a middle schooler and they are just your regular folks. They have chickens, the daughter is in dance. You know, they have another daughter. They just activities all the time, regular parenting stuff.
Jerry Quijano [00:08:00] Well, we’re only about two and a half weeks removed from the Buford shooting, and even though it feels like a lot longer because there has been so much happening, but this mother and daughter that you feature in your story, they were involved in another incident, another shooting incident here in Austin. Where were they at?
Andrea Ball [00:08:17] They were at the target on research. And so they basically went to return a plastic fan. And when they did, they were like, Oh, shoot, we need to get some dance shoes. And so they were wandering around and they come back to the register. And they start hearing gunshots, but it doesn’t register with them at first, because your brain has this like bias for normalcy. So you’re like trying to think, like, is that a bookshelf that fell? And that’s… What they wondered, but it’s so quick that they suddenly realized gunshots.
Jerry Quijano [00:08:52] And this was the shooting incident that took place last summer at the Target on research, I believe is what you said, Craig.
Andrea Ball [00:08:57] August 11th, 2025, a man shot two people, adults, and a four-year-old in the parking lot, and then kind of ran off with his car for a while and then was captured.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:12] What happened to this mother and daughter in the immediate aftermath once they were cleared to leave the target? How did they react to what they went through, what they experienced?
Andrea Ball [00:09:20] Well, it was kind of interesting because, you know, they go home and, um, mom just kind of, kind of just breaks down, like her nervous system is just a hot mess. And she was, um her daughter was in her room, FaceTiming with a friend and a neighbor, this is fascinating, a neighbor that Ashley had never spoken to before and has never spoken to since called having heard that Ashley and her daughter were in this shooting. And the woman is calling from HEB. And she basically says, are you OK? And Ashley’s just breaking down. And the one leaves her cart in the middle of HEB to go to her house and just listen. That night, the family decides, we’re hungry. Nobody’s making decisions. What do we do? And so they decide to go out to get some food at a Mexican restaurant. And that quickly turned out to be not a great idea for them, because their bodies are still reacting to the terror of what they had experienced. So mom’s like, I don’t wanna be my back to the door. And Audrey, the daughter is like, I know he’s not here, but what if he’s here? And just a lot of processing.
Jerry Quijano [00:10:33] Yeah, in your story, you write about a speaker blaring Tejano music, and I thought that really struck with me because that is a sound that I hear a lot, but it goes back to your point about normalcy, you know, that wouldn’t jar me out of in my normal, ordinary circumstance, but if some of the fact gone through something a bit more traumatic, I don’t think I would want those loud noises and those things around me and And it’s something that I am thinking about, but it’s also something that my body is reacting to. And your story features a lot of talk from an expert on how our bodies deal with these things in the immediate aftermath and the days after. Can you tell us a little bit about that? What did you learn?
Andrea Ball [00:11:11] Well, it was really fascinating because Ashley is a speech therapist and she’s fascinated with the mind. And so, when she was telling me her story, she would take a moment during her tale, basically, to say, my daughter kept turning her head and all I could see were the white of her eyes. She would notice how her body was responding to certain things and how her mind was. So I went to interview an expert who. Who, she’s a therapist who basically has her doctorate in the effects of mass shooting on people. And I realized, oh, wow, I can talk to this woman by recalling the story and stopping at the points where Ashley said, my body was doing this. And then the expert would explain, oh, well, the whites of the eyes would be more visible. Because your pupils dilate to get more information when you are terrified. Thus, your muscles get bigger in your eyes and you can see more of the sclera.
Jerry Quijano [00:12:19] Your story mentioned something about, I don’t wanna get this number wrong, but for every one person that is directly affected by the shooting, there can be up to 10 other people. Can you say more about that?
Andrea Ball [00:12:30] Yeah, I mean, you don’t have to, first of all, I do want to say, I think a lot of us will dismiss our feelings and our trauma because I didn’t see anything. I didn’t get hurt. I didn’t help anybody who was hurt. So what am I so upset about, right? But you will have those feelings. And when you have them, they’re going to transfer to your relationships. Maybe your parents, your sisters, your teacher, your therapist. Anybody you come in contact with, the ripple effects of one shooting that maybe nobody has been to ripples throughout a community. And we saw that a lot in Uvalde where everybody knew somebody who knew somebody and it changes the way you see life.
Jerry Quijano [00:13:19] This mother and daughter, Ashley I believe you said is the mother’s name, how are they doing now?
Andrea Ball [00:13:25] They’ve had a really interesting experience. I think they do have moments, of course, where they just don’t really understand what happens still. Ashley has a deep curiosity about the accused shooter, which is a natural response, apparently. People who don’t have answers ask a lot of questions and go down and read a lot. But if there’s a really loud noise, occasionally she will just jump. She will… A sight, a smell, like the way she described the back of the target where they had to wait for hours for the police to clear them, there was like a culvert with some water and it was like 100 degrees outside. And she describes that smell as like wet heat. And if she smells something like that, it’s like right back there. Audrey does get more anxious. Sometimes she’s young and so the brain isn’t super developed enough to actually process all this the most. Teens, according to the expert, don’t really have the emotional resources to deal with that yet, but something really great happened to them. And I had never heard of it, but it’s basically called post-traumatic growth. So you can sometimes hear about these people who go through these like terrible experiences, they get divorced, they have a whole new life, they just flip their Upside down
Jerry Quijano [00:14:48] Big change, yeah.
Andrea Ball [00:14:49] Big change because you’re like, how am I going to live the rest of my life? I almost died, like that kind of thing. But this, these are like micro changes in a life, which is really what we can more relate to. So, you know, Ashley was like, okay, how much can I volunteer? What can I do in my life, what, what do I want my relationships to look like, you know, that kind thing. She lost 25 pounds. Audrey started volunteering. She was trying to I think a Girl Scout Award, and she started volunteering with this therapy dog organization and really working with them, like, trying to help them be able to afford a new, some equipment for the dogs and stuff like that, so raising awareness. And that’s what people say happens, the experts say, some people, not everybody, but some people find new passions in their life and grow in ways that you wouldn’t expect.
Jerry Quijano [00:15:48] That is Andrea Ball. She is a reporter with Austin Current, KUT’s collaborator on Austin Signal and a partner with KUTs newsroom in covering the city of Austin. We’re gonna have a link to her story in today’s show notes and at kut.org slash signal. Andrea, thank you. Thank you so much. And in case you missed the start of our show today, organizers of the annual Caesar Chavez parade and celebration in Austin have canceled the event after allegations against the labor union organizer have been made public. Those allegations were first reported by the New York Times. The KUT newsroom has been reaching out to Austin City Council members this afternoon and can confirm the council will consider renaming Cesar Chavez Street here in Austin. The name was changed from First Street to Cesar chavez in 1993. The 25th Cesar-Chavez and Dolores Huerta Marcha de Justicia celebration in Austin was scheduled for May—March 28th, excuse me. In an Instagram post, event organizers said the decision was made after careful consideration. This is a developing story and we will continue bringing you the latest on KUT News and right here on Austin Signal. We’ll be back after a break.
Jimmy Maas [00:16:59] This is Jimmy Maas, Program Director with KUT News, and you are listening to the Austin Signal. We did it. Day seven is here. Three days shorter than normal, yet feels so different for South by Southwest. The last day is a little anticlimactic for the bold-faced names. NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders is in town for a panel on health, but like his would-be tacklers in the NFL, you already missed him. That was this morning. Tons of shows recorded for future use, so South By will have a life beyond this week, including stories on women’s health to be heard on future episodes of The Moth Radio Hour, Saturdays at 8 on KUT News. But if you’ve noticed, the activations are being torn down, the freebies are getting packed up, and I don’t know what Rivian is going to do with the two stories of dirt that they truck to the middle of Congress Avenue. But starting tonight, we get back to normal. No more calling ahead for reservations at actor Lewis Pullman’s favorite restaurant.
Lewis Pullman [00:17:57] I like, now I’m going to forget the name of it, Sparky’s? What’s the chain, the Tex-Mex chain? You know, it has like a flaming guy on it, or flame on it. Torchies, thank you. I love Torchys.
Jimmy Maas [00:18:11] Long lines at Sparky’s, of course at South By. I’m Jimmy Maas and this is The Austin Signal.
Jerry Quijano [00:18:24] Well, like Jimmy said right there, South by Southwest is wrapping up today. The festival gives musicians a chance to be discovered by both fans and bigwigs in the industry. KUT’s Stephanie Federico followed one Austin artist playing an official showcase for the first time, and hoping for his big break.
Elijah Delgado [00:18:44] All right, let’s do it again. I’ll put this one that we can do it on.
Stephanie Federico [00:18:46] It’s a Monday night at the Orb Recording Studios in southwest Austin.
Elijah Delgado [00:18:52] 20 minutes go.
Stephanie Federico [00:18:54] Elijah Dalgado is rehearsing with his band ahead of South by Southwest. Elijah grew up in South Austin. He’s been going to South By for years. At 23, this is his first time performing in an official showcase. He’s more excited than nervous.
Elijah Delgado [00:19:14] You never really know what you’re gonna get out of anything, and I think that it’s kind of where the excitement can lie. Because at the end of the day, you’re just doing something because you love it and want to, and you kind of hope that things come from it.
Stephanie Federico [00:19:27] He’s been working on a new EP of music he describes as indie rock lullabies.
Elijah Delgado [00:19:33] You set the dining table While I wash my hands All the candles they burn I see you silhouette
Stephanie Federico [00:19:54] His South By shows are the payoff for a lot of hard work.
Elijah Delgado [00:19:58] Performing really just feels like, that’s my favorite part of all of it. It really just feel like, this just feels a celebration of all the work that I, and we, have put into it. There’s so many of these little moments that build up to stepping on a stage and just being able to enjoy the whole process.
Stephanie Federico [00:20:15] Elijah’s not just looking forward to performing at South By, he wants to network, go to conference sessions on building his career, meet with potential mentors, have his music critiqued. He’s open to whatever comes from it.
Elijah Delgado [00:20:27] Just running around Austin with the guys and playing together and trying the new songs and experiencing new things together and I don’t know the chaos of it all. I’m excited.
Stephanie Federico [00:20:38] Elijah’s been singing since he was a kid.
Elijah’s Mom [00:20:40] He was probably about three and already had just a knack for performing and turning any object into a microphone. That’s his mom.
Gabe [00:20:51] We kind of made it a point to always have instruments in our home.
Stephanie Federico [00:20:56] And that’s his dad, Gabe. Elijah tried to pick up a guitar when he was five, but his hands were too small. He came back to it a few years later. Gabe taught him some basic chords.
Gabe [00:21:06] You know, he kind of just took to it. And at the end of the week, he’d come back and show me and say, hey, look what I learned dad. I can do D, E, C, G, this kind of thing. And it became pretty clear. I was just like, all right, this, this he’s got an act to it, he might take to this.
Stephanie Federico [00:21:19] And Elijah just kept going. He started writing songs when he was about six.
Elijah Delgado [00:21:24] I would be like, mom, I’ve got a song coming on and I need you to write it down for me. And they were just kind of nonsensical. One that I distinctly remember is, I wanna rock the city down. I wanna work the city into the underground.
Stephanie Federico [00:21:39] Gabe recorded Elijah when he was 10 playing a song by Colin Hay for Men at Work. And here he is at 16.
Elijah Delgado [00:21:58] Those who feel it I’ll come back another day Yeah
Stephanie Federico [00:22:16] Elijah’s parents say it’s fun to watch his dreams come true. They’re not surprised he’s playing South By.
Elijah’s Mom [00:22:21] There’s no greater joy as a parent for your children to pursue what they love and to just enjoy it and come alive doing what they really love to do.
Stephanie Federico [00:22:40] It’s Monday night at Lefty’s Brick Bar on East 6th Street.
Elijah Delgado [00:22:43] What’s up South West? Thanks for being here. My name is Elijah Delgado.
Stephanie Federico [00:22:51] Elijah is kicking off an official showcase of Austin musicians. The crowd is sparse at first, mostly friends and family. It’s chilly. The heat lamps are glowing. But the patio starts to fill up, and Elijah urges the audience to move closer to the stage. Heads are bobbing, bodies are swaying. People yell out his name between songs.
Elijah Delgado [00:23:16] I don’t wanna talk about it Our world gets crowded, but you always seem so grounded in it
Stephanie Federico [00:23:27] The band plays for about 45 minutes. The crowd is here for…
Elijah Delgado [00:23:33] Thank you guys for hanging with us! See you guys next time.
Stephanie Federico [00:23:43] I catch Elijah packing his gear. The next band is setting up so we move outside.
Elijah Delgado [00:23:48] Oh, Grant, could you grab my guitar stand? Yeah. OK, thanks, dude. I felt like I expressed myself in a way that I wanted to. And I think people received it well. And it was a great turnout. I wasn’t sure what turnout was going to be like, but it was awesome. Yeah, I’ve got my first album in the books. Now I feel like I have a sense of what it’s like, I think. Yeah, I’d love to do it again, if they’d have me. Yeah, next year and the year after.
Stephanie Federico [00:24:20] Now he can focus on his upcoming EP. Elijah Delgado has a new single coming out Friday. For KUT’s Art Beat, I’m Stephanie Federico in Austin.
Elijah Delgado [00:24:31] Keep it on the down low, keep it on down low
Jerry Quijano [00:24:37] Don’t forget to chase those dreams. It’s always a worthwhile use of your time. And a special shout out to Rayna Sevilla, our technical director. She did a little South by Southwest in herself. Hope you had a good time out there. Whatever you did, take a little time to recuperate, get back out there, we need you. Thanks for tuning in today. This is Austin Signal.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
