SAN ANTONIO – One local artist who made a fiesta medal depicting his experience during the tragic 1979 Battle of the Flowers parade is catching both positive and negative feedback for his imaging.
The medal shows a boy screaming and running for his life while being shot in the arm. Israel Rico, the artist, said that boy is him.
“I was 9 years old at the time,” Rico said. “It was April 27, 1979, and we went to see my brother marching in the parade because he was in high school JROTC. I was with my mother and father and we parked and walked over. We were waiting and waiting and I remember my dad was getting impatient.”
Rico said that's when the tragedy began.
“I remember seeing the police officer going in the middle of the intersection and all of a sudden you hear ‘pow!’ like a fire cracker went off, and this police officer grabbed his leg and went down,” Rico said. “All of sudden, you just started hearing shots ring out and people started running all over the place. I would describe it as someone had stepped on a bomb. Chairs were all over the place, programs were flying.”
He said he and his parents did the same as everyone else trying to escape the madness.
“I am going northbound towards the curb and then I feel something just like pop go in my arm,” Rico said. “It felt like someone had thrown a rock and it hit me. Then I noticed blood was trickling down my arm. “I turn around and I see that I am bleeding, and I see that my mom falls down and my dad’s picking her up. I felt helpless.”
All three of them were shot before they were able to seek shelter at a nearby office.
“I was scared,” Rico said. “I remember hiding under a table when we got in there and this woman had handed me a cracker to calm my nerves. I got out and I remember seeing this woman who was one of the parade commissioners because she had a big hat on. She was wiping her neck thinking she was sweating and my dad, who didn’t speak good English, had to tell her that she had been shot as well and that it was blood running down her neck.”
He said he could still see the commotion happening outside.
“Police cars are just coming it was like an episode of "SWAT," or "Adam-12,” Rico said. “They are getting out and they are trying to fire at the trailer where the sniper was at. Tear gas was everywhere.”
Fortunately, the entire family was able to escape out of the back of the office and though they were injured, they were more concerned about Rico’s older brother.
“We finally got home which was near the high school and at that time there was no internet or cell phones or social media,” Rico said. “There was just a rotary phone and if you were home, you were there to answer it. If you were not, nobody could leave a message but about five minutes later, my brother walks in. He had already marched passed that area and had kept going so he had no idea that all that had happened.”
As an adult, Rico laughs about his dad taking two days for them to get medical attention.
“My dad was a Spanish disk jockey for a radio station and he did not want anyone to know or worry about us,” Rico said. “He was also very religious so we left for Austin to go to a church event and I remember I was sitting there on the church pew looking like Jack Nicholson on "The Shining," in shock because I had been shot,” Rico said through laughter.
The entire family was eventually taken to the hospital and treated for their injuries. Rico said that shooting has affected him ever since.
“I had never gone to a parade and never knew anything about it and to get shot, I was like ‘Oh, do I ever want to do this again?’ So over time, I didn’t go to parades but eventually I started. Like I would go to Fiesta events but not the parades. Now, I am good.”
Years later, Rico decided to portray his experience in his art work.
“I did a painting in 2006 of the fiesta sniper account and when it came to do a medal, I thought it would be great to remember that day through my experience with the 40th anniversary,” Rico said. “The painting I did is based on the Day of the Dead -- with me being the Day of the Dead figure. It was about escaping death. My arm, with the confetti and the balloons popping out like the celebration of it and the sad irony is that the fiesta commission decided to have the Flambeau the following day. It is like a double standard like the NFL did when John Kennedy was assassinated. The games continued. It’s like the Queen song, ‘The Show Must Go On,’ and I think the commissioners thought that way."
Rico has received a lot of positive feedback from people sharing their stories from that day as well. He has also received negative feedback.
“People would say, ‘How can you glorify Ira Attebury?' It wasn’t to glorify Ira Attebury,” Rico said. “This was my experience and any artist shares their experience and it comes with the good and bad. In Fiesta, we celebrate the Battle of the Alamo. That is war. It is celebrated. Not glorified but it's a part of history. Just like, we remember Pearl Harbor. We remember 9/11. It's a part of history that should not be forgotten. Especially here in San Antonio because it is based on so much history. Even though it's a dark history, but it should always be remembered.”
Rico said he is blessed to be alive and hopes his medal inspires others to continue to preserve the history of San Antonio.
“I am blessed to be alive 40-plus years later,” Rico said. “I have a wonderful daughter, family, and my artwork has been successful. I am blessed to be here and share my story and hear other people stories. There are other people that have different stories of what happened that day. I hope they are able to share their experiences as much as I have.”
