Man's injury shakes fellow comptroller investigators

By Jeremy Schwartz

American-Statesman Staff

Shane Hill went to the Echelon I

building in Northwest Austin on Thursday morning as he had many times in the past, to huddle with Internal Revenue Service agents about tax fraud cases.

But on this morning, a single-engine Piper Cherokee plane slammed into the building, severely injuring Hill, a five-year investigator with the Texas comptroller's criminal investigation division , which handles cases as varied as illegal tax stamps and tax evasion.

Hill, 38, had second-degree burns over 20 to 25 percent of his body, mostly on his back, according to doctors. He was first taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge and then airlifted to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for burn treatment. He was listed in stable condition Thursday afternoon, according to hospital officials.

Dr. Christopher Ziebell , the medical director of Brackenridge's emergency department, said people who are injured like Hill tend to fully recover.

Crash scene investigators were still sorting out the extent of deaths and injuries Thursday night.

A second man was taken to Brackenridge with injuries related to smoke inhalation and left the hospital before doctors could finish observing him. Hospital officials declined to release the man's name, citing privacy laws, but said he also worked at the Echelon building.

The crash left the small, tight-knit group of Austin-area comptroller investigators shaken. "The news I'm getting is that it could have been a whole lot worse," said Max Westbrook, chief of the criminal investigation division. "Obviously he is in a lot of pain. We're still very concerned."

Westbrook said that Andrew Joseph Stack III, suspected of being the pilot of the plane, was not a subject of any of Hill's investigations as far as he knew.

Westbrook called Hill an exemplary investigator . "He was very conscientious, a very thorough investigator with high integrity," Westbrook said. "He was someone we can all look up to."

News of Hill's injuries quickly spread to his congregation at Brentwood Oaks Church of Christ on North Lamar Boulevard, where minister Adam Herndon said Hill is a long time, active member who attended Brentwood Christian School as a teenager. Herndon said Hill is married with children, is passionate about softball and plays about two nights a week at Walnut Creek Park in the Capital City Softball League.

"Everybody's praying for him," Herndon said. "He's just a really good guy who cares about other people. You can call him up and say, 'Can you help me with this?' and he'll help you out."

jschwartz@statesman.com; 912-2942