Dylan Woodburn was named by police as the mass stabbing suspect who is accused of wounding four people, killing one of them, after a series of attacks at a Freebirds World Burrito business and coffee shop in downtown Austin, Texas. He has a lengthy criminal history across at least three Texas counties.
The suspect is “Dylan Woodburn, White male, (D.O.B. 10-4-92),” Austin police wrote Heavy.com in a news release. His full name is Dylan Connor Woodburn. Police previously wrote that he was taken to a hospital after jumping off a roof following the stabbings. They now say that Woodburn has died from those injuries.
The frightening attacks occurred in the early morning hours of January 3, 2019 in the 600 block of Congress Avenue, and police described them as random. The deceased victim was earlier named by friends as Johnathan Aguilar, who worked as a kitchen manager at Freebirds. Police have now confirmed: “The deceased victim has been identified as Johnathon Aguilar, Hispanic male.”
The case has become a focal point for debate over homelessness in Austin.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Woodburn Was Previously Accused of Burglarizing a Fire Station & Has a Lengthy Criminal History of Past Accusations, Including for Drugs, Prostitution & ‘Terroristic Threat’
Dylan Woodburn
Woodburn has a criminal history in three Texas counties: Travis, Walker and Harris. According to KXAN-TV, in September 2019, he was arrested and accused of burglarizing a fire station, allegedly “stealing an Austin Fire Department radio and a firefighter’s shoes.”
That’s just the start of it. Here’s a listing of his criminal history in Harris County per court records:
Harris County court records for Dylan Woodburn.
Woodburn’s prostitution arrest made the annals of SpringTX.com, which ran a listing of mugshots of arrestees, reporting, “After receiving numerous complaints of prostitution from citizens and business owners in the FM 1960/Interstate 45 N area, Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman’s Office initiated an undercover operation that focused on suppressing the supply and demand for prostitution in and around our neighborhood and businesses.”
That 2017 article lists Dylan as “Dylan Woodburn, 25, Tomball. Charge(s): Prostitution (Class B Misdemeanor), Possession of Controlled Substance (Felony). Bond Amount: $500.” The prostitution case in Harris County was dismissed, though, court records say. He was convicted on the terrorist threat accusation and given 11 days confinement, records show:
Harris County court records
Molly Oak, a KVUE-TV journalist, also reported that the suspect is Dylan Woodburn. “Dylan Conner Woodburn is the suspect from Friday’s fatal stabbing. He’s still in the hospital,” she wrote on Twitter. “He has previous booking info from Travis County Jail. In Sept. 2019: he was booked on burglary of a building–$10k bond. Released on Dec 13 on personal recognizance bond.”
SOURCE: Dylan Conner Woodburn is the suspect from Friday’s fatal stabbing. He’s still in the hospital.
He has previous booking info from Travis County Jail. In Sept. 2019: he was booked on burglary of a building–$10k bond. Released on Dec 13 on personal recognizance bond.
Here’s that case; online records show that there are an indigency form in the case.
Travis Co court records
In Walker County, Texas, Woodburn has one case for possession of drug paraphernalia. It dates back to 2016. He was found guilty.
In a press conference, Austin police Sgt. David Daniels said that, at 7:49 a.m. on January 3, 2020, officers were called to Bennu Coffee Shop for a disturbance between the suspect and a customer at a coffee shop. “The disturbance escalated and patrons at the coffee shop intervened and detained the suspect in question.” The first incident at the coffee shop was not at a stabbing.
Police Chief Brian Manley gave further details in a January 6 news conference. He said a caller had previously reported that the suspect was standing outside the coffee shop with a large rock. At 8:09 a.m., the officer arrived at the coffee shop. A person came out of the business and yelled at the officer at 8:10 a.m. The officer entered Bennu coffee shop. The officer yelled, “stop,” and then you can see in a video that there are several subjects on the floor and the officer has his taser out. One individual on the floor says it’s not him but they’re holding the suspect on the ground, the chief said.
Then, the officer walked over to the bystanders and could be seen pulling out his handcuffs. At this point, the two civilians who had come to assist the initial person assaulted in the coffee shop began to back away as the officer was applying the handcuffs. At this point, the officer’s duty belt came off, and he put his handcuffs down to pick up his duty belt. The suspect then got up and fled from the coffee shop. Twelve seconds later, the officer went out the same door.
Chief Manley and Lt. Greenwalt provide media briefing regarding fatal stabbing from Friday. (Homicide #1)
Police were en route to the scene when the suspect “broke away and took off running toward the Freebirds shop…” said Daniels initially. Police gave chase on foot. The officer lost sight of him. Police then received calls from Freebirds in reference to a stabbing. Once they got inside, they located two victims who had been stabbed.
The Austin American-Statesman had previously reported that the suspect tried to steal food from a display case at the coffee shop and “slammed a coffee mug” on a person’s hands. That’s when the two civilians took him down to the floor. One witness told the newspaper that the officer told them to let the suspect go and was ready to handcuff him when the suspect “pushed past the officer and ran out the door.”
“What is clear from the video is that it was a tight, confined space, and the two bystanders who took the suspect to the ground, were on top of the suspect holding them down when the officer arrived,” said Manley, who added that “the officer was moving forward as his gun belt breaks loose.” He said the department will now conduct a review of how that happened.
You can listen to the initial scanner audio here. It doesn’t start until about 7 minutes in.
In a written news release, police gave this account: “On Friday, January 3, 2020, at approximately 7:49 a.m., APD officers responded to a suspicious persons call at the Bennu Coffee shop located at 515 S. Congress Ave, Suite #108. Upon arrival, two patrons of the coffee shop were actively trying to detain the suspect, a White male in his mid 20s, that had assaulted another patron for no apparent reason. During the struggle to arrest the suspect, the suspect was able to break free and ran from the business.”
The release continued: “At approximately 8:11 a.m., another call came into 911 advising that the suspect that ran from the coffee shop had fled towards the Freebirds World Burrito restaurant located in Suite #101. Another call came in from an employee of Freebirds advising that he and a coworker had been stabbed by the suspect.”
2. Police Confirmed the Suspect Was Homeless After the Texas Governor Raised That Issue
Dylan Woodburn
Police confirmed that the suspect is homeless. That confirmation came after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stoked controversy on Twitter, writing, “When all facts are revealed I bet you’ll learn that the killer was a homeless man with prior arrests. If so Austin’s reckless homeless policy puts lives in danger to murders like this. Austin leaders must answer for their perilous policies.”
On Facebook, Dylan claimed to work for a technology company.
According to Patch, last summer, the Austin council “relaxed rules related to the behavior of homeless” in the city, including making it easier for homeless people to sleep on sidewalks.
Crazy scene on South Congress in Austin this morning. Four stabbed, one dead, suspect in custody, motive unknown at this point. One of the major landmark streets in Austin.
Austin officials fired back at Abbott. “It’s misleading and it’s harmful to equate people experiencing homelessness with being criminals,” Mayor Steve Adler said, according to the Texas Tribune. “It’s like saying that immigrants are rapists. There’s a real damage to society when we demonize people in ways that are simply not true.”
Delia Garza, mayor pro tem, wrote on Twitter, “Events today were tragic. But the governor suggesting that ATX Council has the authority to change laws on violent attacks/homicide is more of his scapegoating and a distraction from his poor leadership and the failure to fund the mental health and housing resources Texans need.”
Some people agreed with Abbott, though. Clinton Christine Rarey shared the Facebook group Take Back Austin and a petition link and wrote, “AUSTIN IT IS TIME TO TAKE ACTION!!! A young man named Johnathan Aguilar lost his life yesterday at the hands of a violent vagrant. We have all noticed the escalating crime and violence at the hands of vagrants since the Mayor and City Council enacted their irresponsible policies. Our pleas to city leadership fell on deaf ears and now an innocent person has lost their life to senseless, random violence. PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS PRECIOUS LOSS OF LIFE BE IN VAIN.”
The horrific set of circumstances culminated in Woodburn allegedly jumping off a roof.
“The suspect managed to make his way out of Freebirds and somehow managed to get on the top of the roof of this business and ended up jumping off the roof and sustained injuries,” police said.
“It looked like he came out of Freebirds,” a viewer told KXAN-TV. “Then he ran down the area between the building and the creek area, he then climbed a ladder laying against the building. He jumped from that ladder to the ladder attached to the building.”
In the news release, police said: “The suspect was seen by another witness leaving the business and climbing onto the roof. The suspect was then seen running and jumping off the roof where he sustained life-threatening injuries. Austin-Travis County EMS arrived on scene and transported one of the Freebirds employees and the suspect to Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas. The employee is currently in stable but serious condition and the suspect remains in critical condition. Despite life saving measures by EMS, the second Freebirds employee succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at 8:30 a.m.”
3. Aguilar, Who Died in the Attack, Was Remembered for His Genuine, Caring Nature
FacebookJohnathan Aguilar
Johnathon Aguilar, the Freebirds World Burrito employee who was murdered in the attack, was remembered for his genuine and caring nature.
Although authorities have not yet named the man who died in the stabbing attack, multiple Austin, Texas news outlets have done so. Brice Bowden, a friend of Aguilar’s, told The Austin American-Statesman that Aguilar was a “genuine, caring and loving person. You meet these really genuine, beautiful people in this world and when they go early like that it just hurts so much more.”
On Facebook, Aguilar wrote that he worked at Freebirds World Burrito, went to Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, and was from Austin. He was engaged, according to his Facebook profile. His top visible Facebook post is a joking post from 2018 that is captioned, “When you work at Free Birds, and get caught eating Cabo Bob’s.”
According to Austin-Travis County EMS, four people were injured in the attack. “500blk S Congress Ave: #ATCEMSMedics have obtained Deceased On Scene pronouncement ~20s male. 1st patient, ~50s male has been transported to local trauma center with serious potentially life threat stab injury. 2 additional patients still on scene. More to follow,” the agency wrote on its Twitter page.
The EMS also wrote, “No additional transports have occurred at this point. 2 patients remain on scene, 1 with continued CPR in progress. #ATCEMSMedics have regained pulses on 2nd patient with CPR from traumatic arrest. Transporting ~20s male to local trauma center with critical life threatening injuries. 4th patient is a refusal. EMS is clearing the scene. No further info available.”
Earlier, the EMS page wrote, “On scene command reporting 4 total patients being treated & prepped for transport. 4 #ATCEMS ambulances, 3 Commanders & Physician Assistant on scene.”
4. Woodburn Is From Missouri & Has Lived in Houston & Austin Police Say the Attack Was ‘Completely Random’
Dylan Woodburn
“This incident appears to be completely random,” Austin police said in a news release. The motive is not yet clear. Lt. Jeff Greenwalt said in the news conference that this was the “first murder of the year.”
According to Greenwalt, when the suspect entered Freebirds, he entered through a side door. The restaurant was closed.
“It was just as random….there were no words that were spoken before the attack took place. It was a violent, unprovoked attack by the suspect.” He said police don’t know the motive.
Police confirmed that Woodburn was not originally from Austin and said they don’t know when he arrived in Austin, so they are asking for associates who had contact with him leading up to the incident to call them.
On Facebook, Woodburn indicated that he lived in Houston and was from Fayette, Missouri. He has some family ties, writing back and forth with his sister on Facebook comment threads.
“APD is working a shoot/stab hotshot in the 500 block of Congress Ave. #20-30396. Avoid the area if possible. More information to follow when available,” police wrote on the morning of January 3, 2020.
They added: “Suspect is in custody. At this time, no other known suspects are outstanding. More information to follow when available.” Police have not provided additional details.
5. Woodburn Posted Inspirational Graphics on Facebook Dealing With Getting Over Past Mistakes
Dylan Woodburn
Woodburn’s last visible post on Facebook came in 2018. In one comment thread, he wrote, “Always lit dog” and “Have fun on coffee bar!!??!”
His profile picture shows rocks, and his cover photo the cosmos. Most of his visible posts are selfies. In 2017, he indicated he got engaged. However, the same day, he also indicated he was in an “open relationship.” It’s not clear whether it was a joke.
In 2016, Woodburn wrote, “Up early with a cause. I don’t have anything to prove to anyone and that’s a pretty great place to be.” That same year, he wrote, “Here’s to New beginnings. Good things are coming and I feel great about this new year. Let it go.” He also posted inspirational memes about relationships. Back in 2013, he indicated he was in a relationship.
In 2017, he shared an anti-vaccine post from a woman who wrote, “Vaccines are an assault on the immune system.” He shared inspirational memes about not being defined by past mistakes and also shared posts about a university focused on vegetarianism and meditation. Woodburn also showed an interest in 80s music. He shared a meme about deja vu theory and living in parallel universes.
According to WTOL, the suspect “was detained by civilians outside of the business” but got away, ran inside, and allegedly started stabbing people at that time. It’s not clear why civilians detained him.
People posted information on social media. “My sister is there by the bank and she said there’s EMS and police all over. Y’all be safe!” wrote one woman on Twitter.
EMS wrote: “Reported stabbing incident with multiple patients & two patients with CPR in progress. Avoid the area. Multiple public safety agencies responding.”