Fatal Budget Inn Shooting Detailed

Austin police said a May 8 shooting at the Budget Inn on North Interstate Highway 35 southbound became a homicide investigation after the victim died nearly a week later. The victim, Se Hun Park, was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the chest at the motel’s front desk after officers were called at 7:32 p.m., according to an Austin Police Department release. Park was taken to a local hospital and died on May 14, police said. APD identified Sean Walton, 24, as the suspect and said he was arrested two days after the shooting in Cibolo, northeast of San Antonio. ### Who was killed and where did the shooting happen? APD identified the victim as Se Hun Park, an Asian man born on Sept. 7, 1969, in a homicide notice released May 15. Police said the shooting happened at the Budget Inn at 9106 North Interstate Highway 35 southbound in Austin. The 9100 block location placed the shooting at a North Austin motel off Interstate 35. (austintexas.gov) Officers responding to the call found Park unresponsive at the front desk, and a caller had reported that a person had been shot there, police said. ### What do investigators say led up to the gunfire? Austin police said the preliminary investigation found that Walton and Park got into a verbal argument before the shooting. (austintexas.gov) Detectives said Walton then pulled out a firearm and shot Park in the chest. FOX 7 Austin, citing APD, reported that police have not released the cause of the argument. (austintexas.gov) The department’s public account of the case does not describe any earlier confrontation beyond the verbal dispute. ### What happened after the shooting? Police said Walton fled the motel in a vehicle immediately after the shooting. (austintexas.gov) Detectives from APD’s Aggravated Assault Unit and crime scene specialists processed the scene while investigators sought an arrest warrant. On May 10, officers with the Cibolo Police Department arrested Walton in Cibolo, Texas, according to APD. (fox7austin.com) Walton remained in custody in Guadalupe County as of the department’s May 15 release. WOAI reported that Cibolo officers located Walton’s vehicle after a FLOCK Safety alert tied to a felony warrant, and that he was initially booked on separate warrants out of Burnet County before the case was upgraded after Park’s death. (austintexas.gov) APD’s release confirms that Park died on May 14 and that the case then became a homicide investigation. ### When did the case become a homicide investigation? APD said Park was hospitalized after the May 8 shooting and died at 6:48 p.m. on Thursday, May 14. The department released its homicide notice the next day and said the case was being investigated as Austin’s 25th homicide of 2026. The timing matters because police had already arrested Walton before Park died. (news4sanantonio.com) After Park succumbed to his injuries, WOAI reported, the charge against Walton was upgraded to murder. ### What are police asking from the public now? Austin police said anyone with information about the shooting can contact the department at 512-974-TIPS. (austintexas.gov) Anonymous tips can also be submitted through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by phone at 512-472-8477 or through its website, according to APD. (news4sanantonio.com) As of APD’s May 15 statement, Walton was in custody in Guadalupe County and the investigation remained active. The next public updates in the case are likely to come through court filings or additional APD releases as prosecutors move the homicide case forward. (austintexas.gov)