Man charged in Southeast Austin homeless camp homicide, police say

A man has been accused of shooting another man to death at a homeless camp in Southeast Austin early Thursday, Austin police said.

Officers responded to the 4400 block of East St. Elmo Road at 12:28 a.m. after receiving a report that a man had been shot in the woods in the area. The area is near Todd Lane, just south of Texas 71.

A man with “obvious trauma” was found in front of a tent at a homeless camp in the area and was pronounced dead at 12:59 a.m., police said. The man has not be identified.

Witnesses told police the man had come to visit a person at the homeless camp. The person was talking with 61-year-old Danny Wing when the man arrived.

The man approached the pair and extended a handshake to Wing, police said.

That’s when Wing, without warning, produced a handgun and shot the man in his upper torso, police said. The man fell to the ground and Wing stood over him and shot him again.

Wing has been charged with murder. He was booked into the Travis County Correctional Complex at 9 p.m. on Thursday with bail set at $750,000, online county records say.

Anyone with more information about the shooting can email homicide.apd@austintexas.gov or call Crime Stoppers at 512-472-8477. Tipsters can also use the Austin police app or the Crime Stoppers app.