SAN ANTONIO – A neighbor said she wonders if gunshots that hit and killed a man in his home northwest of downtown early Monday may have been intended for someone else.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the victim as Jesus Mares Ortega, 61.
San Antonio police said Ortega was walking toward his home in the 1600 block of W. French Place when someone in a black sedan or SUV began firing shots around 5 a.m.
Ortega had just enough time to run inside and warn others in the home before he was hit by bullets that pierced his walls, police said.
“He was an innocent bystander, coming home from dropping off his wife, and it’s sad,” a neighbor who identified herself only as “Irma” said.
The shooting is still under investigation, according to police.
They said they had not determined who shot the man or why; however, investigators did find out that the shooter fired at least ten shots.
Yellow evidence markers mapped out the shell casings that police found at the scene. “Irma,” meanwhile, says she slept through it all.
She says her wife woke up and heard the gunshots but dismissed them as something else.
“She said she heard ‘bang, bang, bang,’ but she thought, literally, somebody was banging on somebody’s door,” Irma said. “All the cop cars right here, blocking in front of my house. And then I found out somebody got shot in the head.”
Detectives spent time going door-to-door, looking for any evidence they could find.
They also spent time interviewing witnesses in the neighborhood.
At last word, they had not made any arrests.
Police said there were three other people in the home at the time of the shooting, including a 46-year-old man and two children.
No one else was hurt.
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