SAN ANTONIO – The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the victim killed in a shooting on the South Side on Tuesday as 49-year-old Bobby Borrego.
Borrego was killed before officers arrived at a home in the 400 block Clutter Avenue and shot and killed the gunman, who remains to be identified.
Krystal Vela, Borrego’s girlfriend, said she was inside her garage on Tuesday afternoon when she heard a gunshot go off in the backyard, a sound she initially thought was a compressor.
“I was in the garage while they were outside, like in the shed. The shed’s by the back, and my kids were inside, and I just hear a gunshot. I didn’t realize it was a gunshot at the time,” Vela said.
Preliminary police reports described the suspect as an intruder, but the shooter was a friend of Borrego’s, according to Vela.
“He was actually one of (Borrego’s) best friends, one of his closest friends. He was here probably every other day,” Vela said.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said Borrego and another friend were in the shed together before he was shot. Then, the gunman drove up to the home, went to the shed and started firing, killing Borrego. The friend in the shed was able to escape. Vela said she went to the backyard to find the gunman standing alone.
“He was just like, ‘It’s all messed up. Everything is just all messed up.’ He was telling me that, so I walked to the corner, and I walked back, and then I smelled paint,” Vela said.
Vela said the gunman was spray-painting their vehicles and wrote the words, “who’s next,” on the hood of Borrego’s pickup truck.
“And that’s when it clicks in my head -- Bobby’s in the shed. I just knew it was Bobby,” Vela said.
Vela said she ran to the shed and made the disturbing discovery.
“So I run, and I see Bobby on the floor, but I see his boots spray-painted, and I see his face spray-painted,” Vela said.
Vela said she tried to run out of the shed as the shooter aimed at her. She managed to get ahold of a gun and fired back, as well.
Five San Antonio police officers then arrived at the scene. Some responded in front of the home and some in the back.
McManus said the officers who entered the property were met with gunfire coming from the person they say shot and killed Borrego. Police then fired back, killing the shooter, according to the chief.
Vela said police handled the situation as best as they could.
“They told him a lot of times to put his gun down, to stop shooting at them, to put the gun down. They tried to give him a chance to live, but he didn’t want it,” Vela said.
Vela said she is still trying to make sense of everything but doesn’t know why her boyfriend was killed. She is now left with the burden of trying to come up with unexpected funeral expenses.