SAN ANTONIO – A shooting in the parking lot of a Home Depot left one man dead and an officer hospitalized, according to San Antonio police.
It was the second shooting that resulted in an injured officer on Wednesday, and the suspects involved were all out on dismissed charges, SAPD Chief William McManus in a briefing.
The incident occurred around 9:40 p.m. Wednesday in the 600 block of SW Loop 410.
SAPD property crime detectives were tracking two suspects throughout the day as they were traveling in a vehicle that was been reported as stolen and was believed to be involved in vehicle burglaries, according to McManus.
WATCH BELOW: Chief McManus provides details on shooting in Home Depot parking lot
Officers followed the suspects to the Home Depot from I-10 and Woodstone and tried to stop their vehicle in the parking lot.
They positioned their patrol vehicles and then struck the suspects’ vehicle to prevent them from fleeing, according to a preliminary report.
During that attempt, the driver got out of the vehicle and ran from officers.
Officers yelled at him to stop but the suspect continued to flee and pulled out a gun, the report states.
A detective in plain clothes and a uniformed officer fired their guns and the suspect was shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The detective in plain clothes sustained a gunshot wound to his torso and was taken to the hospital in stable condition. He is recovering at the hospital.
The preliminary report does not state whether the suspect fired at the officers nor did they specify which gun fired the bullet that wounded the officer.
“We’ll know more once the detectives get into the investigation,” McManus said in the briefing.
Both the suspect who died and the passenger of the stolen vehicle, who was detained but released, are men in their 20s.
SAPD has not released the names of the officers involved in the shooting or the suspect who died.
According to McManus, both men in the stolen vehicle had criminal charges, but their charges were dismissed, and they spent no time in jail.
They had multiple charges, ranging from narcotics, vehicle burglary and criminal mischief.
“This is what we’re seeing repeat in most of the cases that we’re looking at over a period of time. Again, frustrating that folks like these are out on the street,” McManus said.
Earlier on Wednesday, another shooting left an officer hospitalized and a suspect dead on an East Side highway.
The suspect involved in this shooting also had seven criminal charges dismissed and had not been convicted.
“It’s been a rough day. It’s been a rough couple of weeks,” McManus said. “I don’t want to get into a back and forth with the DA, but I just know that this happens in many, many, many cases. This isn’t an anomaly here... this is happening over and over and over again.”
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said that when it comes to a criminal case, they have to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the crime was committed. Otherwise, the suspect will not be convicted.
The suspect involved in the East Side shooting had his charges dismissed due to lack of evidence, not being able to locate victims or witnesses or another technicality. It’s unknown what led to the dismissed charges for the suspects involved in the Home Depot shooting.