SAN ANTONIO – The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified a man shot and killed outside a party at a ununregistered short-term-rental home on the city’s North Side last week.
Jordan Benjamin Burleson was fatally shot just before 3 a.m. on July 31 in a driveway across the street from a house party that was taking place at a home in the 4600 block of Hawthorn Woods, not far from Loop 1604 and Lockhill Selma Road.
According to police, the house party had at least 20 people and was taking place at the short-term rental home when multiple shots were fired. Burleson was shot and killed in a driveway across the street.
A woman who was at the party told KSAT the group was mainly from San Antonio. They were celebrating the birthday of someone else who had died and also shooting a music video.
The woman said Burleson was a San Antonio native and member of the U.S. Navy who was visiting his hometown. He had left the house to get food when he was shot.
The woman believes the shooting was a combination of retaliation and mistaken identity.
Officer Nick Soliz, an SAPD spokesman, said an unknown number of suspects in a vehicle fired 10-15 rounds with what was believed to be a rifle. The victim was hit multiple times.
The woman told KSAT she tried to stop the bleeding and performed CPR until police arrived. He died at the scene.
Police said several people believed to be involved barricaded themselves inside before eventually surrendering peacefully. Others fled the scene.
Hostage negotiators and SWAT officers used a loudspeaker to call out to them.
SAPD said they got eight people out and guns were found inside and outside the home.
EXPIRED PERMIT
At least one neighbor told KSAT the 3,700-square-foot home with a backyard pool was a “party house.” The city forbids using short-term rental homes specifically for parties and updated its ordinance last month to make it easier to crack down on them.
District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez latched onto the “party house” moniker during a visit to the crime scene Wednesday afternoon.
“Nobody should be surprised that we have tragedies like this arising from homes being used to like party houses,” Pelaez said.
The councilman, who is also running for mayor in 2025, said he planned to talk to SAPD Chief William McManus, Mayor Ron Nirenberg, and City Manager Erik Walsh about “giving more agility and more alacrity to this process of ratcheting down on Vrbo’s and Airbnb’s.”
SAPD records showed four calls for service because of loud music during the past two years, but city code enforcement did not have any complaints on file, a spokeswoman said.
However, the spokeswoman said the home should not have been operating as a short-term rental. Though the property owner had obtained the proper permit in 2021, it expired this April.
The owner has been issued a citation for operating a short-term rental without a permit.