San Antonio – The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office is looking for information on whoever gunned down a horse at a far South Side ranch Wednesday night.
Patricia Scharmann says she and her husband typically let their livestock roam in the 16-acre pasture at the corner of Neal Road and Pleasanton Road. A neighbor found their mare, Stormy, lying dead in the field Thursday morning.
Scharmann said Stormy had been shot at least four times. A trail of blood and trampled grass, starting about 25 yards from the Neal Road fence line, shows where the horse stumbled and collapsed, ultimately dying with gruesome wounds.
“Her front knee was blown out, and her right shoulder is -- we found, was broken,” Scharmann said.
A witness, who asked not to be identified over safety concerns, told KSAT they saw a white, four-door car -- a Dodge, they believe -- by the pasture at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. As it slowly drove off, someone in the car fired 10-12 shots.
The car soon returned, they said, and parked by the pasture for a few more minutes.
The witness said they didn’t call BCSO about the shots because of the time it has taken them to respond to calls in the past. In the dark, they did not see anything or anyone hit, either.
In a texted statement, a BCSO spokesman said they had recovered evidence indicating the shooter had used a rifle.
Scharmann said investigators told her brother they’d found 5.56 mm casings - a caliber most commonly used with AR-style rifles.
The shooting has left Scharmann and investigators wondering at a possible motive.
Scharmann is a retiree, and her husband is a pastor. She doesn’t know of anybody that would be angry with them.
“(Investigators) asked if it could be a retaliation against us because they couldn’t imagine somebody doing that to an innocent animal just standing in the pasture. I think that they just wanted something to kill,” Scharmann said.
Though she wants to be able to forgive the shooter, Scharmann says she’s “too broken” right now.
“If I prayed for you, what I wish for you now -- it wouldn’t glorify God. And so I can’t pray for you, but I will eventually pray for you and your soul and forgiveness for you,” Scharmann told KSAT, addressing her words to the shooter. “And I pray that your conscience helps you to live with what you’ve done to an innocent animal.”
BCSO is investigating the shooting as an animal cruelty case.
They’ve urged anyone with information on the suspects to call Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP, which may provide up to a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person involved.