SAN ANTONIO – Caytie Maurer was just about to leave San Antonio in June 2020. Her last night out was a farewell with friends before she moved away.
“Someone suggested Rebar, and I’d never heard of this place,” Caytie said.
It was Caytie’s turn to order drinks when she heard what she thought were firecrackers.
“It took a few seconds to register that it was gunshots,” Caytie remembered.
A few seconds later, she realized she had been hit twice in the back.
Caytie recalled turning to her friend to say she had been shot. At some point, she fell to the ground and broke her foot.
Caytie remembers people screaming and running to try to get away. She can also recall another shooting victim who was panicking.
Caytie wasn’t far behind.
“My right lung collapsed from one of the bullets, and it became so hard to breathe that I started to panic,” she said.
She remembers telling herself she had to calm her heart rate.
Police arrived quickly, but it felt like an eternity for Caytie.
Jenelius Crew is accused of opening fire on customers at Rebar on Broadway near Loop 410 on June 12. All eight people wounded survived.
Investigators said Crew was denied entry to Rebar because staff said he was drunk. That’s when police say Crew came back to Rebar with a rifle.
Officers arrested Crew in Miami roughly a week later.
For Caytie, what happened that night at Rebar changed her life forever.
Caytie’s lung had to be drained after the shooting, but she did not have to undergo surgery. She has scars on her back from the gunshot wounds, and her foot still experiences some lingering pain.
But when asked what she feels most about the shooting two years later, her answer is gratitude.
“This event definitely made me a more spiritual person,” Caytie said. “Every day seems meaningful.”
Fitness became Caytie’s passion. During her recovery, she felt herself growing stronger day by day. That strength is something she’s worked hard to build and maintain.
The two bullets inside her body will stay there. But that’s not all she carries with her from that night. These days, she also has a constant heightened awareness.
“Part of the scariness, I think, is the fact that it’s so unexpected in a place you can never imagine being shot,” Caytie said. “That’s a reality, I guess, that every American faces.”
She doesn’t let that fear dictate her life.
Caytie hopes her story can help someone else who is struggling, whether from their own physical wounds or trauma of another kind.
“I’ve made a powerful recovery,” she said. “I’m really proud of that.”
But her journey sparked by the mass shooting is not over.
Caytie filed a lawsuit claiming negligence on behalf of Rebar and Bentley’s, the bar where investigators initially said Crew had been drinking before the shooting.
The following is a statement from Humberto Garcia with George Salinas Law, which is representing Bentley’s:
“While my client’s representatives feel for Ms. Maurer having been shot while she was at Rebar, they deny all liability to Ms. Maurer as there has been no evidence produced to this point that the alleged shooter was ever a customer of Bentley’s. On the contrary, the evidence revealed so far establishes that the shooter was never inside Bentley’s and, therefore, was never served any beverages prior to his shooting rampage. The police officers investigating the shooting confirmed this on three separate occasions by reviewing the video footage taken by Bentley’s surveillance cameras. According to Rebar’s employee, the shooter arrived and parked across the street fifteen minutes before he tried to get into Rebar. He supposedly went to a bar across from Rebar and then walked over to Rebar where he was not allowed in. He then returned to his car and began shooting in the direction of Rebar. Under these facts, Bentley’s never had any duty to protect Ms. Maurer from the shooter. The lawsuit against Bentley’s is thus wholly unjustified and without merit.”
Thomas Potter, the owner of Rebar, responded to a request for comment by saying the following in a written statement:
“Urban LLC, dba Rebar, values its guests, and regrets the injuries inflicted by Jenelius Crew. We understand Crew has been involved in more than one shooting incident and the law has now caught up with him. We trust the justice system will deal appropriately with Mr. Crew.”
The case is set to go to trial in May 2023.