SAN ANTONIO – Update (Sunday, Aug. 27):
KSAT reached out to District 6 Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda about the tenants’ concerns. and she said she’s been made aware over the past year.
“Fortunately had been on my radar for a long time. You know, residents were calling. We went out there, did a walk around, and I was appalled at what I saw, the living conditions that people were living in,” Havrda said.
The growing concerns were enough to bring San Antonio Police Chief William McManus out there nearly a year ago.
“We’ve had our, of course, police go out there, Animal Care Services, code enforcement working to improve the location over the last several months. It’s, it’s not fast enough to my liking, but it is incremental. We’re working toward making it a safe place, safer living conditions for our community,” Havrda said.
Some of the improvement comes from the Proactive Apartment Inspections Program, which strives to hold landlords accountable for extra code enforcement problems.
The DART team was actually at the apartments nearly a month ago, according to SAPD and Havrda.
“I understand that this is part of the inspection program. So the city was already working with them. They were also part of the DART team,” Havrda said.
Original:
Jesse Garcia, the suspect accused of shooting two police officers, had acquaintances where the shooting and standoff unfolded at the Westwood Plaza Apartments, San Antonio police said.
The standoff eventually ended late Thursday night, hours after police had swarmed the West Side apartment complex to find Garcia.
One resident, who chose not to be identified, told KSAT that Garcia was a familiar face at the complex.
“We’ve done some odd jobs and stuff together. And, yeah, I mean, he hangs out over here, you know, within this — a little apartment area,” the man said.
For apartment residents, crime is all too common.
SAPD statistics show that over the past year, there have been over 400 calls to the complex. Officers were there nearly every other day.
“Once again, I’m not surprised when the area really says everything, you know,” the man said.
Many calls are listed under “disturbance,” which are low-priority calls. But there were also several calls for theft, burglary, and narcotics.
Jose Garcia, who lives in the complex, said police presence there is not unusual, but Thursday night’s shooting scared him.
“I felt it in my chest. It was so loud. It was like, ‘Oh my God.’ And, you know, we’re in this neighborhood. Kind of used to it, but it was really close,” Garcia said.
KSAT reached out to the apartment complex management about what can be done to help the people living there.
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