Steakhouse shooting affected many

AUSTIN (KXAN) - When the shooting happened at Steiner Ranch Steakhouse, Dan Martin said knew something was wrong. "Chris' fiancee and myself both called him on our cell phones, had texted him and he didn't get back to us," said Dan Martin the father of the victim from the shooting Monday. "We didn't know what was going on yet."

Soon, he found out that his son, Christopher Martin, had been gunned down during the incident. "Chris was the manager out there," said Martin. "He had an employee walk out on Saturday night."

There was a concerning rumor floating, but no one thought it would lead to this. "The skuttlebug around the restaurant was that this employee [Brian Carl Beck] was going to come back and take a bat to Chris's car," said Martin, with tears in his eyes. "I guess he changed his mind."

Christopher's fiancee, Laura Taylor, is now wondering about their future. They were scheduled to close on their house next week. They were to marry in October 2009 at his parents' ranch.

"He was perfect; he was generous, kind; he would do anything for anyone," said Laura Taylor, Christopher Martin's fiancee. Taylor wants the man responsible for Chris' death found immediately. "[Beck]'s lucky the cops are looking for him and it's not me," said Taylor. However, this family cannot concentrate on a killer. They have a much harder job to do: to say goodbye to a good man.

"It's really unreal," said Martin, almost in tears as he spoke. "We just made the funeral arrangements. We never planned on making our kid's funeral arrangements."

Beck was not a recluse, however. Susan Arnold would sometimes walk her daughter's dog with the suspected killer. "He was always smiling," said Arnold. Arnold's daughter lived in the Canyon Creek Apartments where 27-year-old Beck lived.

"Just a friendly guy," said Arnold. "It's really frightening to think he is out there." Beck was last on his MySpace page on Monday and posted several of his photos from his time in the military. He cites his hometown as Pomona, Calif. His profile said he is in Austin to attend school and working as a busboy.

"Detectives believe there was some kind of altercation between Mr. Beck and Chris Martin, the manager at the business," said Roger Wade, Travis County Sheriff's Office PIO. Witnesses told police Beck walked into the restaurant, went right up to Martin and fired multiple shots with a semi-automatic handgun.

"The witnesses scurried under tables and Mr. Beck walked up and said 'Don't worry, I am not going to hurt you' and walked out," said Wade. Then, he took off in a white Chevy Blazer and left the car on Bullick Hollow Road. Authorities continued to search. They said Beck is armed and dangerous and likely hiding out in the woods nearby.

"It's a thickly wooded area with cedar trees," said Wade. "There's a ravine, which means it's really hilly and very difficult to walk through."