SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Neighbors of a man accused of shooting and killing two dogs last weekend are having a tough time believing he did it.
San Antonio police say they identified the 44-year-old, whose name has not been released yet, as the suspect in the case, which grabbed the attention of people across the city.
Both shootings happened in a North side neighborhood within a few blocks of each other.
A police report said at least one of the incidents was captured on camera in the 1000 block of West Mariposa.
The report said the video shows a car slowing down in front of a home, then someone inside the vehicle shooting and killing a dog on the sidewalk.
The other dog was killed a few blocks away, in the 3200 block of Capitol Avenue.
Police said investigators were preparing to execute a search warrant Wednesday evening at his second-floor apartment in the 8500 block of Wakefield Drive when the man shot himself in the head as officers and a SWAT team moved in.
He was rushed to a hospital and, as of Thursday afternoon, remained in critical condition.
Neighbors, meanwhile, returned to the area outside his apartment Thursday morning to get a look at the aftermath.
Miguel Cardona, who lives on the ground floor of the building, looked in amazement at a pile of wood and metal that used to be the man’s balcony.
Cardona said he saw SWAT officers using equipment to tear it down.
“Military garb. Plain clothes police with their police jacket on,” Cardona said, describing the scene which he described as an “army of officers.”
While the operation was going on, Cardona said he and others in the potential danger zone were forced out of their own apartments.
“(Police) rushed us out into the main office and then repeatedly told us to stay in there. Don’t come out,” Cardona said.
As he and others stood around talking Thursday morning, they were having trouble believing the allegations against their neighbor, the accused.
Robert Longoria said the idea of his neighbor killing dogs seems out of character.
“He didn’t seem like he was that kind of person, to me. He was, he just kept quiet,” Longoria said.
Longoria and others said the man who police accused of killing dogs was not only helpful to them, but cared for his own pets, nearly a dozen cats.
“It doesn’t fit him at all,” Cardona agreed.
But police said they obtained evidence identifying the suspected shooter in this case.
A police report said investigators spent time conducting surveillance on him prior to executing the warrant.