SAN ANTONIO – A woman who was in the area when San Antonio police shot and killed a man early Monday morning said she is haunted by the images she witnessed.
The woman, who did not want to reveal her identity, spoke to KSAT 12 News with her face hidden and her voice manipulated.
She said she was inside a business near the 4400 block of W. Commerce when she heard gunshots ring out around 1 a.m.
Moments later, she said, she saw a man fall to the ground.
“Cops were telling everybody that he was armed, to go inside, but he was already on the ground,” she said.
According to police, the man had run from the scene of a traffic stop just a few blocks away.
At least two officers chased after him, catching up with him in the parking lot of a laundromat.
“The person officers were chasing pulled a weapon, a handgun, and the officers fired, two officers fired,” said Chief William McManus, speaking to news crews soon after it happened.
The man, who had not been identified as of late Monday morning, died of his wounds.
McManus said he appeared to be in his 20s or 30s.
The unidentified woman who spoke to KSAT 12 News said she never saw a gun anywhere near the man, although she didn’t see him until after he was shot.
She says she has questions about what happened and why.
“You hear this happening everywhere all the time. But it’s just, like, when it happens in front of you, it affects you the most,” she said.
McManus told news crews he had not yet reviewed video from the officers’ body cameras, and that the information he was releasing was “preliminary.”
He said there would be a full investigation of the incident.
The two officers, meanwhile, will remain on administrative duty, he said.
McManus said both officers have been with the police department for about five years.