SAN ANTONIO – One of the suspects involved in the shooting of a Balcones Heights police officer is believed to be in custody in Mexico, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Thursday night.
Wilfredo Montemayor, 27, and his brother Sijifredo Montemayor, 30, are facing charges for attempted capital murder. They’re accused of shooting Balcones Heights police Sgt. Joey Sepulveda in the neck on Wednesday.
Salazar said the BCSO has been working around the clock on this case with the help of other Texas law enforcement agencies, and he believes Tamaulipas State Police have Sijifredo Montemayor in custody.
“I’m waiting on proof that it even happened,” Salazar said.
The sheriff says the Mexican state police were not eager to discuss the case with him on Thursday, and he will work to get more information from a commander on Friday. He said the BCSO has not verified if Sijifredo Montemayor is actually in custody.
Salazar said authorities believe Sijifredo Montemayor entered Mexico around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, just hours after Sepulveda was shot. The sheriff says family members may have helped Sijifredo escape across the border. However, it’s unclear if the family members knew about the sergeant getting shot.
The BCSO went to the Montemayor brothers’ family home and asked them to come out voluntarily. Some family members were taken into custody, but Salazar says it’s unclear if they will face any charges.
Officials are still trying to figure out if any family members who lived in the home helped Sijifredo Montemayor escape to Mexico.
The sheriff’s office seized the vehicle used to take Sijifredo across the border and will look for more evidence in the case.
Salazar says he’s not sure when Sijifredo will be brought to the U.S. from Mexico since it’s believed he was also taken to the hospital to get treatment for a gunshot wound. However, the sheriff says he does not know the severity of the suspect’s injury.
“It won’t be very easy,” Salazar said about extraditing Sijifredo Montemayor to Bexar County.
Salazar said Wilfredo Montemayor is still on the run, and he’s believed to still be in the San Antonio area.
Anyone with more information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 210-224-7867. There is a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest.
Watch Salazar’s news conference below: