SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Police Department on Thursday released body-cam footage of a shooting on the city’s West Side in April that left two suspects dead and wounded a police officer.
The body-cam video is the first of two videos released after the police department’s policy change in December 2020, which requires SAPD to release “portions of videos and 911 calls related to critical incidents involving officer-involved shootings or use of force resulting in death of an individual,” according to a news release.
The dramatic video does show the gun exchange between the officer and the suspects involved. Viewer discretion is advised.
The shooting happened around 11:27 a.m., April 16, in the 2300 block of Pinn Road when Officer Tyler Sauvage, a five-year veteran, conducted a traffic stop on a blue pickup truck.
The video shows Sauvage approach the truck, which was occupied by two men and a woman, and instruct the driver to stop going through his pockets.
The driver was then asked to turn off the car and place the keys where the officer could see them.
Sauvage asked for the driver’s ID and moments later, told him to step out of the truck after saying he could smell marijuana.
The driver admitted to the officer that he smoked marijuana earlier and that it was just the smell -- that he hadn’t had any in his possession. He said to the officer in the video that he was “...Just being honest with you.”
In the video, a police official said the front seat passenger is heard asking the backseat passenger for a gun. The officer then opens the driver’s door and in just a matter of seconds, the suspects fire multiple gunshots.
Sauvage is hit by the gunfire in the hand, which is seen in the video covered in blood, and he retreated to his vehicle. His police radio was also hit in the exchange.
The officer dropped his weapon in the video after being shot, but he was able to retrieve it before taking cover behind his police unit.
In the video, police said the suspects ceased fire as Sauvage continued to shoot as he saw movement inside of the vehicle and “feared he would be shot again by the suspects.”
The two men in the truck were pronounced dead at the scene.
Sauvage was taken to a hospital for treatment of his hand. The third passenger, a woman, was shot in the torso and was also taken to a hospital.
Police respond to a shooting on Pinn Road on Friday, April 16, 2021.
The woman survived her injuries and has not been charged as of yet, according to police.
The two men who were pronounced dead at the scene were identified as Alex Garcia, 25, and Sammie Barbosa, 33.
More on KSAT:
SAPD releases surveillance video of fatal shooting at San Antonio International Airport in April
SAPD: Passenger opened fire on police officer during West Side shootout
San Antonio police ID officer who was shot in hand during deadly West Side shooting