SAN ANTONIO – A teenage girl shot in the neck at a Northwest Side hotel early Wednesday morning was supposed to be in the care of Child Protective Services, testimony during an emergency hearing revealed Thursday.
The teen, who told Judge Mary Lou Alvarez she is 15 years old, had run off with another teen hours earlier while both girls were under the supervision of state foster care employees at an area hotel.
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One of those employees testified Thursday that the girls took off after she briefly left the room. The other employee said she was in the hotel room at the time the girls left, but did not notice they were leaving until hearing the door to the hotel room close.
The injured teen, who attended the virtual hearing, was considered a Child Without Placement (CWOP) at the time she was shot, meaning she was receiving temporary supervision from CPS while the state searched for a licensed facility in which to place her.
San Antonio Police officers were called around 2 a.m. to the Clarion Pointe Hotel in the 4800 block of Manitou Drive, not far from Loop 410 and Callaghan Road, after receiving word of a person injured.
According to police, two teens and two others in the 20s were all in a room on the fourth floor of the hotel when a gun was accidentally fired, grazing the girl once in the neck.
She was taken to University Hospital but did not suffer serious injuries.
A CPS spokeswoman declined to provide further details, stating via email the department does not comment on children in their care.