Police visited apt. before the shooting

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Religious candles burn in the courtyard of the Whisper Woods Apartments in North Austin. The memorial is set up close to the spot Austin police said a black man shot and killed 29-year-old Franklin Espinales around 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

Police say Espinales lived there, and according to a neighbor, he was from Nicaragua. Investigators do not believe the victim knew the man who pulled the trigger and took off running.

"We believe this subject just walked up on this party," said Sgt. Scott Ehlert with the Austin Police Department. "We do not know that there was any connection between the people at the party."

Beer bottle caps litter the ground where police said the two were arguing.

Police had been out to the neighborhood twice that night. At 11:15 p.m., they  showed up to the complex after someone complained the party was too loud. Those putting it on told police they would shut it down at midnight.

At 1:00 a.m. police came back to the area after a caller said there were more problems.

"We arrived at the scene, but were not able to locate a disturbance," said Ehlert.

Homicide detectives spent Monday afternoon interviewing neighbors. A surveillance camera was mounted in an apartment window and pointed toward the parking lot, but police would not say if it recorded anything.

Witnesses described the shooter as a:

• black man
• 30 to 40-yrs-old
• 5'5" to 5'7" tall
• 200 to 220 lbs.
• short hair or bald
• gold front teeth
• driving older model 4-door car, looked like a square "boat"