Jordan Smith has a great column in the current issue of The Austin Chronicle regarding the shooting of Kevin Brown by APD Sgt. Michael Olsen after a pursuit by police officers.

The shooting especially concerns me as it happened mere blocks from my house on Austin’s East Side.

As Smith points out, fault lines between minority and civil rights advocates and police supporters have already solidified, and each have grasped onto their own version of the story — the former that it was a racially motivated shooting by a violent police officer; the latter that anyone who scuffles with the police and takes off running probably has something to hide and, even if Brown didn’t deserve to be killed, can only expect something bad to happen to him/her.

But, as Smith notes (and I agree), it’s important that we withhold judgment until all the facts are in.

Indeed, doing otherwise only heightens racial tensions and distrust of law enforcement officials.

Brown and Olsen might both be great, wonderful people. Or, they might both be complete screwups. Most likely, the truth about their characters lies somewhere in between – and right now that truth is irrelevant. What is relevant to our community understanding – and still largely unknown – is the truth of what happened just after 4am on June 3, in the parking lot behind Chester’s Nightclub and in the space between the parking lot and the courtyard of a nearby apartment complex where Brown died, from two gunshots in his back. What is likely even more relevant, and much harder to determine, is the truth of why all this happened.

. . .

The location of the shots has fueled rumors, accusations, and speculations that now dominate public discussion about the shooting – suggesting it’s impossible to view Olsen’s actions as justified. That might or might not be the case – there’s still no information regarding the angle or trajectory of the shots, which means there’s no way to determine exactly what Brown was doing when he was shot. Perhaps Brown turned as Olsen fired, for example. Or, maybe Olsen panicked; maybe he thought he saw something that wasn’t there. At this point, there’s no way to tell – and there are no facts to suggest that the official story is a lie, nor is there enough detail available to determine whether the shooting was justified.

. . .

By now, what seems clear is that the idea that the criminal inquiry might be allowed to conclude without battle lines being drawn is wishful thinking. There are plenty of reasons members of the community – and, particularly, members of the black community – might not trust the cops. In each of the last four officer-involved shootings, for example, the victim was black or brown, and the cop shooter was white. That is a completely relevant fact, but its specific meaning isn’t so easy to pin down. “It’s déjã vu all over again,” said Eastside activist the Rev. Sterling Lands. “The reality is that I’m just sick of black men getting killed.” Still, Lands said, the real question is how do we keep this from happening again? What is the real problem – do we know or want to find out? “We don’t like to use the word ‘racism,’ but the reality is that [racism] is entrenched in every system,” he said. “It is an issue that can be solved. … But you have to want to solve it.”

That last quote is the most important. Whatever the cause of this shooting, it’s important that we work on solving the underlying issues — racism, poverty, illegal weapons, et cetera — that cause such violence and death.