Cibolo police offer parking lot safety advice after carjacking, shooting on North Side

SAN ANTONIO – Less than a month after a carjacking at North Star Mall, a woman was shot at the Alamo Quarry Market over her vehicle.

“We know that crime happens everywhere and to everyone.” Patrol Sergeant Matt Schima with the Cibolo Police Department said.

It’s a frightening but harsh reality, no one can predict where a violent crime is going to happen or who will be the next victim.

The latest to shake our city, a woman shot in the face during an attempted carjacking at the Alamo Quarry Market.

“It’s…it’s a little bit of shock, you know, not really believing that this stuff can happen and those types of areas,” Sergeant Schima explained.

Sergeant Schima says although crimes like these are jarring, they open our eyes. That’s step one in protecting yourself.

“In today’s world, we’re so focused on our phones and we’re not aware of what’s going on around us, whether it’s people or cars, anything like that,” he said. “So just getting out of the phone, putting it down and being aware of surroundings.”

Next, use your voice. Get loud if you’re approached by someone you don’t know.

“Just saying something out loud, like, Hey, who are you? Or get away from me or something really loud and alerts people that that are around the area to watch out for what’s going on,” Sergeant Schima said.

We are built with fight or flight instincts so, if you can create distance between yourself and a potential threat, that’s the best course of action.

But if not, fighting back is not recommended unless you have proper training.

“If they are not trained in fighting and trained in firearm use, just give them the property. Because what’s more important is their life and not their property. Property can be replaced. But people can’t,” he said.

These tools will not only help you if you find yourself in a compromising situation, but they also help you to become a good witness.

“If that’s happening to somebody else, you are also looking for those signs where somebody does not seem like they’re having a good conversation with somebody or they’re screaming or something like that, you’re being a good witness and seeing what’s going on and then calling 911 yourself,” Sergeant Schima said.