Zombie Rampage Hits Austin Coffee Spot

Police officers detain a seated man on a city sidewalk — Photo: photo-denver / Shutterstock

On a Halloween week night in Austin, police say a man in zombie makeup stabbed two people at a coffee shop, fled, and crashed into an empty robotaxi before his arrest.

Story Highlights

Police say two people were stabbed at The Buzz Mill coffee shop and taken to a hospital.
Officers identified 20-year-old Shankar Temple Grace as the suspect and filed two felony assault charges.
The fleeing pickup allegedly struck an unoccupied autonomous vehicle before the driver ran on foot.
Police found the suspect on a trail about three miles from the scene; both victims were later stable.

Police Account of the Stabbing and Emergency Response

Austin police said officers arrived at The Buzz Mill, 1505 Town Creek Drive, around 8:54 p.m. on October 28, 2026. They found two people with stab wounds and called for medics. Officials described one injury as life-threatening and the other as not life-threatening. Both victims were taken to a hospital and were later reported in stable condition, according to local outlets that cited police statements. That early information set the timeline for the night’s events.

Police and local reports identified the suspect as 20-year-old Shankar Temple Grace. Officers arrested Grace and booked him into the Travis County Jail on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a felony under Texas law. Those reports linked the identification and charges to the Austin Police Department’s account shared with media the following day. Naming the suspect and the charges clarified that the case had moved from response to the arrest stage.

Flight by Truck, Robotaxi Collision, and Foot Pursuit

Authorities said the suspect left the coffee shop in a pickup truck after the stabbing. During the flight, the truck allegedly struck an unoccupied autonomous vehicle described by outlets as a robotaxi. Reports varied on branding, but agreed an empty self-driving vehicle was hit before the driver ran away on foot. Police later found the suspect on a walking trail near Rosewood and Chestnut avenues, about three miles from the coffee shop, and took him into custody.

Outlets that cited police placed the trail arrest several miles from the original scene and within the same night. That consistent route—coffee shop to crash to trail—appeared across multiple local and national reports. While some early coverage described police questioning a person of interest, later stories said Grace had been identified, arrested, and booked on felony charges tied to the two stabbings. That progression reflected a typical shift as an investigation unfolds in the first 24 hours.

Victim Conditions, Legal Status, and Public Safety Context

Local outlets reported both victims were stable at the hospital after initial treatment. Police classified the wounds as one life-threatening and one non-life-threatening injury at first response, a common triage practice at violent scenes. Grace faces two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which can carry significant prison time if a court finds him guilty. An arrest is not a conviction, and the legal process will determine the outcome of the charges.

Minutes before a free comedy show, a man in zombie makeup turned an Austin coffee shop into a crime scene, police say.

Shankar Temple Grace, 20, is accused of stabbing two people at Buzz Mill Coffee on Wednesday night, then speeding off in a pickup and slamming into an empty…

— TechPulse Daily (@DailyTechpulse) October 29, 2026

The robotaxi crash drew attention because driverless vehicles are new on city streets. Regulators have warned that crash data for automated systems can be complex and depend on what companies record and share. That helps explain why early media reports often cite police, yet lack technical crash details in the first days after an incident. The focus for residents remains basic safety: people want to enjoy a coffee, walk in their neighborhood, and get home without fear.