SAN ANTONIO – A deadly shooting by San Antonio Park Police Sunday is among the latest in an especially violent year for local law enforcement officers.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office is still working to make a positive identification of the 27-year-old who was shot dead.
According to SAPD Chief William McManus, who also oversees the Park Police department, the incident began after the man ran from officers near Elmendorf Lake Park.
McManus says the man ran into the backyard of a home in the 3400 block of Buena Vista Street, then got into a physical struggle with officers who chased him.
He says at one point, one of the officers tried to use a Taser weapon on the man.
“(It) didn’t have any effect on him,” McManus said. “The struggle continued. The suspect was able to get his hands on the officer’s gun.”
At that time, McManus said, a second officer pulled his weapon and shot the man, killing him.
While taking a morning stroll Monday morning, Lupe Sanchez and her daughter, Rosie Arroyo, stopped to talk about what happened.
They said they are still shaken by the violence.
“That’s awful. That’s so sad that it has to happen,” Arroyo said.
Her mother agreed, saying that the trouble is too close for comfort.
“It’s getting closer and closer to home,” Sanchez said. “Things like this would happen once in a while. Now it’s, like, every night.”
While McManus was careful to point out that this latest shooting involved Park Police, officers under his command have been involved in shootings more this year than any year in the recent past.
SAPD figures show there have been nearly two dozens shootings by that agency’s officers since January.
More than half of them were deadly shootings.
In several cases, officers were shot and wounded.
McManus has pointed out in the past how many of the people involved in these violent clashes with officers have had criminal backgrounds or outstanding warrants.
He said the man who was shot and killed by Park Police also had outstanding warrants, including one for previously trying to take a weapon from an officer.