SAN ANTONIO – A man who was shot and wounded by San Antonio police after allegedly threatening them with a knife will face criminal charges.
Adrian Talamantez, 18, was rushed to a hospital early Thursday with a gunshot wound in his side.
He faces a charge of aggravated assault of a peace officer.
The violent confrontation happened around midnight after officers answered a call about a disturbance in the 14400 block of Briarpine. Police said that call soon was upgraded to a man with a knife.
When the officers arrived, they noticed Talamantez in the driveway of a home, holding a large butcher knife. They said they were told by a witness that he had been trying to break in.
RELATED: Knife-wielding suspect shot by police officer
“He reportedly had been low-crawling around the house,” said Chief William McManus with SAPD. “The suspect started moving toward the officer and the officer gave commands to drop the knife.”
McManus said Talamantez did not cooperate with the commands, and instead made a move toward the officers.
“At one point, the officer fired three rounds. The suspects was struck once in the side,” he said.
In a home across the street, Gilbert Pereida was sleeping but woke up to the commotion.“One of my dogs started barking so I turned over to my wife and said, 'Did you hear that?' She said, 'No. I didn't hear anything.' I said, 'It sounded like gunshots,” Pereida said.
Initially, Pereida wondered if he was dreaming. Then, he said, he looked outside and saw a shirtless man who obviously had been wounded.
"(He was) staggering up the driveway over there and he had blood all over him. He staggered up the driveway, fell down, (and) got up a couple of times,” Pereida said.
Hours later, pools of blood still caked the ground near the home.
In spite of his injuries, though, Talamantez is expected to survive.
The officer who shot him is a four-year veteran of SAPD, the department said.
McManus said he has been placed on administrative duty, which is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings.
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