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We’re learning more about the alleged shooter in Sunday morning’s deadly incident at a West Sixth Street bar. The suspect had no prior interactions with police in Austin, but that wasn’t true for other agencies in Texas. We’ll share more about that history, and why it wasn’t enough to keep him from legally acquiring firearms.
The Texas Department of Transportation has not started construction on a new boardwalk along Lady Bird Lake. TxDOT pledged $25 million for the project as part of the expansion of I-35. Now it’s warning the City of Austin to accept its terms or lose the project altogether. We’ll have more from a KUT News investigation.
We’ve got a little Austin music history for your day.
And this group of women in Austin have a shared interest in skateboarding. We’ll hear more about their story.
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 learning more about the alleged shooter and Sunday morning’s deadly incident at a West 6th Street bar. The suspect had no prior interactions with police here in Austin, but that wasn’t true for other agencies in Texas. What we know about that history and why it wasn’t enough to keep him from legally acquiring firearms. And the Texas Department of Transportation has not started construction on a new boardwalk along Lady Bird Lake. TechStop pledged $25 million for the project as part of the expansion of I-35. Now it’s warning the city to accept its terms or lose the project altogether. More from a KUT news investigation that’s on today’s show.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:43] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jerry Quijano.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:48] And on this Friday, we’ve got a little Austin music history for you, those stories and more, coming up next, it’s right here on Austin Signal. Howdy out there, you are tuned in to Austin Signal right here on community-supported public radio. This is KUT News. I’m your host, Jerry Kikano. It is the first Friday of March 2026. We’re glad you’re spending part of the day here with us. We are continuing to report on and follow developments in the investigation and aftermath of Sunday morning’s deadly shooting at Buford’s backyard beer garden on West 6th Street. Austin police chief Lisa Davis said on Thursday that the total number of people hit by gunfire, including the suspect, was now at 19. That was an increase from previous statements. Three people were killed and one remains in critical condition. And while Austin police report not having a run-in with the suspect before last weekend’s shooting, we are learning more about interactions with other law enforcement agencies prior to Sunday. For more, we’re speaking with Sam Stark, the local government reporter for Austin Current. KUT’s collaborator on Austin Signal and a partner with KUT Newsroom covering the city and this deadly shooting. Welcome to the show, Sam. Thanks so much for having me. So in your story, you found that court records from Bexar County showed a possible history of domestic violence from the alleged shooter. Can you tell us more about that?
Sam Stark [00:02:17] Yeah, so we recently acquired divorce documents from Bexar County. That’s where Ndiaga Diyajni lived with his ex-wife. So we know that his ex wife Isatao Sivare filed for divorce from Diyaja in March 2022. In September of that year, a judge found that Diyaji had a quote history or pattern of committing family violence during their marriage. The ruling in those documents placed Saveri in sole custody of their two sons, which signaled the court’s concern about safety while still permitting Diogenes’ limited and supervised visitation.
Jerry Quijano [00:02:59] One thing I wanted to ask you about was Austin Police said pretty early that the guns used in the attack were acquired legally. Did any of these crimes bar him from owning guns?
Sam Stark [00:03:09] Yeah, so Austin Police said that he acquired them legally in San Antonio in 2017. So I actually spoke with Hays County Assistant District Attorney Greg Cox about this situation. He said that because Diogeni had no criminal conviction for family violence, he was still legally allowed to own firearms. So, if he did have a criminal conviction, state law bars people convicted of family violence misdemeanors or felonies from possessing guns for five years after completion of their sentence and probation. Cox told me that civil courts don’t usually trigger those firearm restrictions. There is one exception. A person may also be barred from possess firearms if a court issues a domestic violence protective order against them. Even without a criminal conviction.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:02] Okay, we have your story at KUT.org and we’ll have a link in today’s show notes. In addition to you reporting, you also include a handwritten note that you found in the records. What does it say in there?
Sam Stark [00:04:14] So also in those documents was a handwritten letter from D’Ajni replying to the divorce filings, refuting some of Savare’s claims. He said, quote, in our culture and religion, we do not need a marriage certificate to be husband and wife. The only reason why we are here is because I applied for a marriage certificate to help her become a legal resident of the United States and later become a citizen. I only object to her lying reason for divorce, otherwise I have no problem whatsoever having her out of my life.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:47] You also talked with someone who assists victims of domestic violence. What did she have to say about the connections between domestic violence and these kinds of shootings?
Sam Stark [00:04:55] So she said that they are never surprised when someone who has committed this type of shooting has a history of family violence. She pointed to a study that reported an established link between mass shooters and perpetrators of family violence. That was a study out of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which found that almost 70% of mass shootings in the United States from 2014 to 2019. Involved a person who had either killed a family member or had a history of domestic violence.
Jerry Quijano [00:05:28] Sam, we here at KUT have been covering the story as you have with Austin Current. There’s a lot to be updated. We had an update yesterday from Austin Police Department and we’re expecting more in the future. What are you going to be continuing to cover in the days and weeks ahead?
Sam Stark [00:05:42] Yeah, so I mean, we’re just really interested in getting kind of a more complete picture of who this person was. The Austin Police Department as well as FBI investigators have been… Dropping hints here and there, for example, on Thursday, we had heard that he had a welfare check in 2022. They said that that came from an outside agency, but wouldn’t specify which one. I’m going to just continue to look at the response from local agencies as well as federal ones to see what they’re doing in the wake of this tragedy.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:14] That is Sam Stark. He is the local government reporter at Austin Current, a partner with KUT News and Austin Signal in covering the city of Austin. Sam, thanks for your time. Thanks so much. Back in 2023, Textod said it would pay up to $25 million to build a new boardwalk along Lady Bird Lake. And the offer seemed kind of simple, a long-desired safety upgrade on Austin’s busiest trail paid for by the state as part of the I-35 expansion. But nearly three years since then, construction on this new board walk hasn’t even started and now Textod is warning the city of Austin that it must accept the terms of an agreement or risk losing the boardwalk all together. So what’s going on here? A KUT news investigation helps provide some answers as KUT’s Nathan Bernier reports.
Nathan Bernier [00:07:14] Austin has more than a hundred miles of trails, but the most popular one by far is the ten-mile loop around Lady Bird Lake in the middle of the city. The Anne and Roy Butler hike and bike trail attracts five million visits a year. And one of the most beloved features is the existing mile-long boardwalk that opened 2020
Al Godfrey [00:07:34] My name is Al Godfrey, I’m an architect and I was the lead designer for the boardwalk. And right now we’re walking along the board walk on a beautiful, beautiful Monday observing the city skyline and it is spectacular.
Nathan Bernier [00:07:52] The boardwalk cost $28 million to build, mostly paid for with City of Austin property taxes.
Al Godfrey [00:07:58] It seems like it really resonates with the community and has become an important milestone, a benchmark for the city in terms of its idea of itself.
Nathan Bernier [00:08:11] Now Austin could get a second boardwalk on the Butler Trail and in a much more central location Right in front of the Hyatt Regency on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake That’s basically between South First Street and South Congress Avenue But this time instead of the city footing most of the bill up to 25 million dollars would come from the Texas Department of Transportation And it’s all because of the expansion of I-35 through Central Austin Adding extra lanes to the highway means the I-35 bridge over Lady Bird Lake needs to get wider and that construction is already underway. But doing that requires using some of the surrounding parkland, some of it during construction, but also almost an acre that will be permanently absorbed into the highway’s footprint. Now under federal law, TxDOT has to make up for that use of parkland with something called mitigation. Sometimes that’s a straight cash payout. Last month the city accepted more than 17 million dollars from TxTOT. The boardwalk, though, falls into a different category of mitigation. It is not strictly required by law. It’s text out going above and beyond. This is a kind of sweetener that often gets bundled into large urban highway expansions to help agencies build support for controversial projects. So almost three years after this project was announced, why is there not even a timeline for when construction could begin? A KUT news review of thousands of pages of emails obtained out of the Texas Public Information Act helps reveal why. Behind the scenes, a power struggle played out over who would control the boardwalk and who would get the 25 million dollars. It involved the city of Austin and a non-profit called the Trail Conservancy, which operates and maintains the Butler Trail under a contract with the city. And it didn’t really go as planned, but it did eat up a lot of time. And it started with an email. It was March 2023. The email was from a member of the Trail Conservancy’s Board of Directors, Matt Harris. He’s also on Cap Metro’s board. Harris had just seen a KUT news story about TechStot using Parkland to build the I-35 bridge over Lady Bird Lake. He emailed the lead engineer for TechStots Austin District, Tucker Ferguson, and wrote, Tucker, can we visit regarding this when you have a moment? I have a couple ideas that will get TechStat the space it needs and yet preserve the trail long-term. Within days, TxDOT officials were meeting with the Trail Conservancy’s leadership. By the summer, the boardwalk was listed in the final environmental study for the I-35 expansion, but what was not public was how the $25 million would move. For months, TXDOT and the Trail conservancy tried to figure out how to route the money directly to the Trail Conservancy, bypassing the city, which owns most of the trail, and the underwater land where the boardwalk would be constructed. The problem with this arrangement was that it violated state rules. Inside TexDOT’s statewide headquarters, contract lawyers started raising red flags. And then in January, 2024, the attorney overseeing TexDot’s contract division, Ken Stewart wrote, we need to involve a local government. We cannot just pick the nonprofit because we do not have the authority to just go pick firms to do business with. That ended the plan for a direct payment to the Trail Conservancy. But it did not end the effort to route the money outside the parks department or to avoid direct oversight by the city council.
Amanda Batchelor [00:11:42] So today is July 1st, 2024. We are in the PDC. It is 3.09 and I’m calling together the meeting of the Austin Public Facility.
Nathan Bernier [00:11:54] The Austin Public Facilities Corporation is not exactly well known. City Council created it in 2003 because it has the power to buy, sell, and renovate city property with more flexibility than a typical city department.
Amanda Batchelor [00:12:07] I am Manny Thomas. I am the Chief Marketing Officer for the Trout Conservancy. And I’m here to talk to you a little bit about our Ford Walk Central project.
Nathan Bernier [00:12:16] Under the new plan to route the $25 million to the Trail Conservancy, TxDOT would give the money to the Austin Public Facilities Corporation, which would then hand it over to the trail conservancy. Emails showed trail conservacy leadership telling TxdOT that if the money went through the city and required a city council vote, the boardwalk project would no longer be feasible. So in the summer of 2024, the trail Conservancy also known as TTC made a similar case to the austin public facilities corporations board of vectors.
Amanda Batchelor [00:12:45] It would not be feasible as a City of Austin project. TxDOT’s budget for this project is based on TTC being the project manager and it has a strong cap at 25 million.
Nathan Bernier [00:12:56] A member of the corporation’s board, who did not identify themselves in the city’s audio archive of the meeting, explained that what the trail conservancy was seeking was not a normal arrangement.
Amanda Batchelor [00:13:06] So my understanding, we would simply serve as a pass-through, just through the PFC’s existence. It gives us that mechanism to allow that to happen, as opposed to having to go through our typical capital projects. But this is not a normal delivery, so.
Nathan Bernier [00:13:22] Under the Trail Conservancy’s contract with the city, major capital projects, like a boardwalk, are subject to review by the director of Austin Parks and Recreation. But as this meeting was happening, Austin Parks& Recreations was without a permanent director. That person had left the city a month earlier to lead the Trail conservancy. Kimberly McNeely would spend less than six months on the job as the conservancy’s CEO before resigning. Back at the Parks Department, senior staff were still trying to understand what was going on. In August 2024, Parks Manager Ricardo Solis wrote to Assistant Parks Director Liana Calivoca that the plan to route the $25 million through the Austin Public Facilities Corporation was “…news to me.” Adding that TechStat was “…dictating the mitigation without our input.” Calivuca dove into the I-35 project’s environmental documents. She found a memo from the Trail Conservancy to TechState, saying the city had transferred to TTC, the primary day-to-day stewardship. Of the Butler Trail and surrounding park. Kali Volkow wrote, This statement is misleading in my opinion. TTC in effect eliminated Parks and Recreation’s input and involvement. How on earth? By January, 2025, Kali volkow went further. She wrote the Parks Department does not see a need for the boardwalk. Park staff even asked TxDOT to redirect the $25 million to high priority parks projects, including some affected by the I-35 expansion. But TextDot would not agree to that. After all that, things have changed again. Now the $25 million for the boardwalk will go to Austin Parks and Recreation and will require a City Council vote. In a statement to KUT News, the Parks Department said it will enter into an agreement with the Trail Conservancy to design and build the board walk that includes milestones and accountability. The Trail Conservency told KUT news that it serves as a collaborative partner and advocate for the city. And it’s prepared to support project delivery in close coordination with Austin Parks and Recreation and other city departments. For parks advocates, all this underscores their broader concerns about a growing reliance by the city on non-profits to operate and manage public space.
Diana Prector [00:15:38] The Trail Conservancy became a competitor instead of a cooperator with the Parks Department.
Nathan Bernier [00:15:44] Diana Prechter is a public parks advocate who’s been researching the boardwalk process.
Diana Prector [00:15:49] Transparency in government becomes an incentive for people to behave ethically. And by outsourcing government functions to non-government organizations, you break the continuity of transparency. Suddenly things are done that you can’t understand, the citizens cannot look into.
Nathan Bernier [00:16:13] Those who support non-profits managing parks say those non- profits can do a better job than the city and for less cost to taxpayers by relying on private donations and philanthropy. But for now, TxDOT says if the City Council does not approve its proposed agreement on the boardwalk, then the state will cancel the project and keep the $25 million. I’m Nathan Bernier in Austin.
Jerry Quijano [00:16:40] This is Austin Signal here on community supported public radio. We’ll have more after this break. Thanks for spending part of your Friday here with us. This is Austin Signal, welcome back. It’s a story as old as Texas itself. A young musician on their 21st birthday, no less, packing up their belongings and heading for the green pastures and cool waters of Austin. In this version though, the musician brings along a few friends for that journey. For more, let’s hear from Jason Mellard with the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University.
Jon Mellard [00:17:24] This week in Texas music history, a Chance Nashville meeting between an Alabamian and some Carolinians brings new sounds to Austin. On March 5th, 1972, singer-songwriter Willis Alan Ramsey, on his 21st birthday, caught a performance by Uncle Walt’s band in Nashville and convinced the trio to move to Austin The acoustic group consisting of Champ Hood, Walter Hyatt and David Ball had formed as high schoolers in Spartanburg, South Carolina and made their name with eclectic arrangements that melded their southeastern string band sound with jazz and blues.
*MUSIC* [00:17:55] Oh, if baby runs from me, the boots that’s a high-wheel train I know about a lot that don’t have anything to do with me or what I want
Jon Mellard [00:18:13] It makes sense that the combination would click with Ramsey, whose delicate song craft and wit had established him as an influential player in Austin’s songwriting circles. The band released their self-titled debut in 1974, and three additional independent albums followed. Still, they were unsigned to a major label when they first appeared on Austin City Limits in 1980. As journalist Townsend Miller said of the band, of all the artists who made the Legendary 70s scene, I don’t think any have intrigued, captivated, hypnotized, They’re one of the hearts of Austin fans like Uncle Walt’s band. Still, they remain something of an underground favorite with a huge influence on other artists. Marcia Ball, then with the country Freed and the Fire Dogs, credits them with opening up her horizons by nudging her in the direction of Louisiana’s Professor Longhair. Lyle Lovett, who opened for Uncle Walt’s band early in his career, became a stalwart champion, as did their initial Austin host Willis Allen Ransy. Though the band split in 1983, Hyatt, Hood, and Ball would reunite in various combinations over the years at the Kerrville Folk Festival at Threadgills. Each of the members established solo careers in their own right. Walter Hyatt released the albums King Tears and Music Town, Champ Hood, the posthumous Bon Haven and worked with Jerry Jeff Walker and Tony Price, and David Ball a prolific country career, including 1994’s platinum album, Thinkin’ Problem. Their talent likely meant they would have found a way to make music no matter where they were, but it was Ramsay’s Tennessee invite that would make them a part of the Texas music story. You can hear music from the Lone Star State 24-7 on the Texas Music Experience at TMX.fm. The road
Jerry Quijano [00:20:02] Well, it is Friday and this week somehow is finally coming to an end. It was a busy one here at KUT with lots of breaking news, primary elections, and of course our membership drive. But overall this week made us appreciative of the teamwork that we have here at KUT, KUTx, and the Texas Standard, work that is made possible by a listener just like you. And this week also underscores the importance of taking a break when it all gets to be just a little too much, and maybe focusing and relaxing with hobbies. Even better if those hobbies have a community built around them, like this group of women here in Austin with a shared interest in skateboarding. Former Texas Standard intern Keyla Holmes has the story.
Keyla Holmes [00:20:47] Several women are walking over to a small patch of concrete near a bike trail in East Austin.
Amanda Batchelor [00:20:52] I actually skated here from my house so wouldn’t have been able to do that four months ago and yeah.
Keyla Holmes [00:20:59] Amanda Batchelor sets up near a painted cloth banner that reads Austin Women’s Skate and a donation box for diapers. Batcheler has always wanted to skate. She started learning about six months ago after searching for a women’s skateboard community on Instagram. She found the Austin Women Skate group, and now she’s among the dozens of women who meet up twice a month to coast.
Amanda Batchelor [00:21:22] I feel like I just kind of fell in love with it. In your late 20s, you just have no idea like how to make friends.
Keyla Holmes [00:21:27] Mental health and art therapist Brie Valdez is one of three women who started Austin women’s skate. This past summer, the trio would grab their boards and meet at Mueller Park for a cruise. But eventually, they realized if they were enjoying their informal skate meetups, others probably would too.
Brie Valdez [00:21:46] We saw kind of like a need in the community for women’s skaters and a space for women skaters to feel really supported.
Keyla Holmes [00:21:54] Every first and third Wednesday, the group takes a break from their jobs and responsibilities to let loose and skate with one another. This audio is from two of the group’s recent meetups.
Brie Valdez [00:22:04] As soon as I get on the skateboard, I stop thinking about anything else.
Keyla Holmes [00:22:08] As members erupt into chatter and laughter and place their diaper donations into a box near the extra skateboards, organizer Carolina Montgomery gives a little pep talk.
Carolina Montgomery [00:22:20] Have fun, be safe, be kind, and just remember this is space for everyone.
Keyla Holmes [00:22:25] At every meetup, everyone introduces themselves and sometimes answers an icebreaker. This evening, the group shared what they had for lunch, gripping their boards, waiting to disperse.
Chelsea [00:22:37] I’m Chelsea, I had green orzo risotto with blended broccoli
Keyla Holmes [00:22:45] Some women have knee pads and helmets on. Others just have the clothes on their backs. Organizer Carolina Montgomery likes to wear gear because it helps her to feel more confident. As a skater in her early 40s, she believes that skateboarding has taught her to take more risks.
Carolina Montgomery [00:23:02] I think that it’s made me brave, to be able to take chances, to take up space, and to be okay taking up space. Even if I’m not the best skater, or if I am just a beginner, or I don’t do tricks, or I’m so scared, it’s okay to take space.
Keyla Holmes [00:23:18] Herrera grew up watching her older male cousins skate. But as a girl growing up in the 90s, she felt like there wasn’t much representation in the sport.
Herrera [00:23:27] Not seeing anybody like me doing skateboarding made me really nervous, made me really scared.
Keyla Holmes [00:23:34] Best to make time to skate. Because for her, it’s like she’s finally free to do what she’s always
Herrera [00:23:39] wanted. I played all the Tony Hawk games and so like I said I watched videos I read some of the magazines and so it definitely felt like giving my child self something back.
Keyla Holmes [00:23:56] After taking a group photo, the women all placed their feet on the tails of their boards, found their balance, and pushed themselves down the bike trail. I’m Keyla Holmes for the Texas Standard.
Jerry Quijano [00:24:11] And that is it for Austin Signal this week. Thank you for tuning in. I’m your host, Jerry Quijano. We will be back on Monday. Have a beautiful weekend.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
