Austin man sentenced to 12 years after 2023 SWAT standoff

Man sentenced after standoff with APD

According to court documents, 38-year-old Steven Moreno Briseno was arrested by Austin police after he surrendered during a barricaded standoff at his family's home in east Austin.

AUSTIN - An Austin man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a charge stemming from a SWAT standoff that happened in 2023.

According to court documents, 38-year-old Steven Moreno Briseno was arrested by Austin police after he surrendered during a barricaded standoff at his family's home in east Austin on Nov. 30, 2023.

East Austin SWAT standoff

The backstory:

The court documents say before 6 a.m. that day, Briseno was under the influence of methamphetamine and got into a fight with his wife, physically assaulting her. A call to 911 was made, and he ran from the home when police arrived.

Officials say he ran to an empty apartment across the street, then sprinted back to his home, where he barricaded himself inside. At this time, the family was no longer in the home.

"He ran from the officers, he absconded, left for about three hours, then returned to the home at about roughly 9 a.m. Again, he ran from an officer that was on scene and went into his residence with none of the family member victims there and started making threats of shooting and indicated he wasn't going to leave the house," says Austin District Assistant U.S. Attorney Grant Sparks.

Court documents show officers documented Briseno's behavior, saying it was becoming more aggressive at this point. He refused the officers' commands to come out of the home and made comments about arming himself and threatening to shoot if the officers did not back away from the home.

Officers reported they were able to see Briseno fashioning a tripod and mounting a long rifle on top. He was also seen smoking from a glass pipe that resembled a meth pipe, while he loaded multiple rounds into rifles, handguns, and at least one shotgun, officials say. He was wearing a camouflaged tactical vest.

"He was in possession of 10 weapons: some semi-automatic rifles, some semi-automatic pistols, a shotgun. The federal charges fell into possession of a firearm, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years," says Sparks.

When APD SWAT arrived on the scene, Briseno was told to come out of the home with his hands up and empty. Court documents show he fired at least one round from inside the home.

After several minutes, officials said Briseno surrendered to APD, about six hours after the situation started.

Officers found 10 firearms, loaded magazines and boxes of ammunition on the kitchen table, near the front door, and near multiple windows in the front of the house.

Court documents show he poured unknown chemicals all over the home and left the gas stove flame on.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Grant Sparks prosecuted the case. He says Briseno pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Steven Moreno Briseno (Source: Hays County Jail, mugshot from 2020)

"He was definitely a danger to the community and was really one of the most dangerous subjects that law enforcement really encounters. But for a matter of feet or inches, we would have had a dead law enforcement officer in our hand," says Sparks.

Police say in addition to the 2023 arrest, Briseno had a list of prior felonies, including burglary of a building in Travis County.

"You know, we just wanted the public to know that the U.S. Attorney's Office will prosecute violent felons that are in possession of firearms," says Sparks.

He is currently being held at a federal facility in Bastrop.

The Source: Information in this article is from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Texas, and federal court documents.

East Austin Crime and Public Safety