SAN ANTONIO – Plans for a morning workout went way off course for people at a West side gym Wednesday.
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The sound of gunshots outside that Planet Fitness, located near N. General McMullen and W. Commerce, had them scampering to safety.
“Everybody just ducking and running. People around the counter just running for their lives,” said Greg Luna, a gym patron, describing the shooting aftermath. “At first, it sounded like somebody dropping weights. That’s how loud it was.”
Luna decided to cut his workout short after the big scare.
According to San Antonio police, the commotion erupted before 7 a.m. when a man showed up in a nearby parking lot, hoping for a face-to-face meeting with a woman he had met online.
Police say they’re not sure if the woman ever showed up. However, there were three men who began arguing with the victim, then shot him and drove off in his car.
The victim, meanwhile, stumbled into the gym, looking for help.
“It’s something like you see in the movies, you know?,” Luna said. “A gentleman staggering in, holding his side.”
Luna said staff members at the gym were able to give the victim first aid. Paramedics arrived soon after and took him to a hospital by ambulance.
Police say the 41-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds in his side and groin.
He was in critical condition, but stable, after he arrived at the hospital, police said.
Officers searched the area on the ground and with a helicopter overhead but did not find the shooters.
Luna, though, said he has found a new reason to be cautious.
“In the parking lot, your surroundings, look where you’re at, you know? This happens everywhere,” he said.
Police said whether the woman who the victim thought he was meeting had anything to do with the shooting, or if she even exists.