BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – Alejandro Zepeda says he was in his backyard when he was hit on his shoulder.
“I got hit in the back, on my shoulder,” he said.
Zepeda lives in the Buena Vista community along Highway 281, north of Loop 1604. About a dozen residents there say bullets and BB-gun pellets have hit their homes and properties over the last year.
Residents point to the 281 Country Club next door as the source of those bullets. The 20-acre property is advertised online as an outdoor recreational area for ATVs and bicycles, and it has a shooting range.
Zepeda says Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deputies took his complaint, but nothing happened.
“Everybody calls the sheriff, and they don’t do nothing about it. They say, ‘OK, we’re going to take care of it.’ But they don’t do nothing about it,” Zepeda said.
Resident Larry Aguillon says families are worried about letting their kids playing outside.
“You can’t even go outside because you hear the bullets zinging over you. You see the trail of it breaking the air. You know it’s coming close by,” Aguillon said.
Jorge Trevino is one of about 20 people who own 281 Country Club. He says he hasn’t been addressed about the complaints formally and calls them a bluff.
“We don’t know who it is, or where it is, or if it’s really us because everyone around here shoots,” Trevino said.
Trevino pointed to a square 15-foot berm, with multiple berms behind it, where the range is located. He said the range is away from the area where people live.
Trevino said he has started to limit the shooting range to guns and shotguns only.
“We’re not trying to cause any trouble by shooting. We’re just having fun, and everybody in Texas does this in their backyard, and this is our backyard,” he said.
Trevino said the area is rural, and the bullets and pellets could be coming from other neighbors shooting.
According to the complaints received, a BCSO deputy noted Zepeda was hit in the back in March 2019, but he did not want to press charges. Instead, he asked that they shoot away from his property.
The report says the deputy made contact with people on the property, and they agreed, but Trevino was not listed in the incident report.
In November 2020, deputies noted a complaint of automatic weapon gunshots to a man named Jorge, who said he owned the 281 Country Club. Another complaint was made at the beginning of this year.
BCSO said it is working with the Bexar County Fire Marshal’s Office to address the residents’ concerns.
“All previous incidents that were reported to BCSO involving this property are being reviewed by the Fire Marshal’s office,” officials said in a statement.
Trevino says the country club has been operating for about a year, and there’s a five-year plan to expand the business.