Halloween Shooter in Custody

Photo by John Anderson

Thirty-eight-year-old Michael McCloskey died of gunshot wounds sustained at a costume party on Sunday. He was the 27th murder victim in Austin this year, one of four people shot at a house on Avenue F around 6am that morning. Police were dispatched to investigate reported gunshots and promptly located the suspect, Randall Gaston Jones, 32, reportedly dressed as Santa Claus. Witnesses told police that an intoxicated Jones – told by friends to go to his bedroom and sleep it off – heeded the advice only temporarily, and shortly thereafter returned with a handgun. Police say he fired one shot into the floor, and that McCloskey charged toward him "in an attempt to protect everybody else," Lt. Jason Staniszewski said at a Tuesday press conference. McCloskey was shot several times during the scuffle. Medics transported him and two other victims to Dell Seton Medical Center, where he died shortly after 3pm. Jones currently faces charges of murder and aggravated assault.