SAN ANTONIO, Texas – At least one other child was present when a teenage boy was hit by a stray bullet and killed in his West Side home, relatives say.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner identified the teen as Tristan Jaden Rosas, 15.
Rosas was inside a bedroom playing video games when a bullet tore into his home and hit him in the head around 3 a.m. Tuesday.
“It’s my kid’s room. A bullet right next to my nephew. My nephew got it,” said Ray Rosas, the victim’s uncle. “Dudes were fighting in the back. They were shooting at each other and they brought it up here to the front.”
Another relative told KSAT 12 News that a young cousin was with the victim when he was shot and witnessed him suddenly fall to the floor.
No one else in the home was hit by gunfire.
San Antonio police confirmed that the bullet was related to a shootout that was happening in the parking lot of the Gates of Capernum apartments, located in the 8600 block of Waters Edge.
“We believe that he was just innocent in his apartment complex when he was struck,” said Officer Christopher Ramos, a public information officer with SAPD. “This is very tragic, especially since a young man’s life has been lost.”
Ramos said a man in his 40s who was connected to the shootout also suffered a gunshot wound to his groin.
He was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Immediately after the shooting, police launched their helicopter to search for as many as three other people involved in the shooting.
They did not find them.
Officers did find evidence on the ground, including a blood trail and shell casings.
Later, they also searched a parked car which they say contained a gun in plain sight.
Police ended up towing away that vehicle.
A sergeant said they also searched an apartment in the complex that belonged to the man who was shot in the groin.
They did not disclose what, if anything, they found.
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