Double stabbing kills 1 in South Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A double stabbing at a South Austin hotel ends with one person dead and another hospitalized.

Austin police got a call at 3:19 a.m. Wednesday about a disturbance at the Country Garden Inn & Suites at 2915 South Interstate 35.

Officers got there to find two men stabbed. EMS crews took both to University Medical Center Brackenridge, where one of them -- a man in his mid-20s -- died. The other is expected to survive.

Investigators said a fight involving several men led up to the stabbings.

Officers are going door-to-door, interviewing hotel guests and other witnesses. They have not made any arrests, but they said there may be at least one more suspect in the crimes.

In-Depth: Crime statistics in that area

A search of city crime records shows this hotel and the surrounding neighborhood have seen their share of violence.

In the last three months, these are some of the crimes that show up on APD's Crime Tracker in a 1,000-foot radius around the hotel:

• one attempted strangling
• one sexual assault
• one indecent exposure
• one robbery
• four family violence assaults
• nine family disturbances
• four home burglaries
• 12 car burglaries

Officer-involved shooting at that same hotel

The parking lot of the Country Garden Inn and Suites was also where an Austin police officer shot a suspected car thief in late September 2012.

Officers spotted Maurice Paladino, 42, on a balcony, and they said he ran. Paladino then allegedly jumped in a car and tried to run over an officer, prompting officer Brandon Blanch to pull the trigger. 

Paladino later died at the hospital.

Chief Art Acevedo said video from the scene showed the shooting was justified. Paladino had 16 warrants out for his arrest at the time of the shooting.