SAN ANTONIO, Texas – San Antonio police officers have fired their weapons at people on 18 different occasions so far this year, according to SAPD data.
Among those shootings is a recent cluster — three incidents in less than a week.
The apparent wave began Sept. 14 when officers shot one man and wounded another in a car in a parking lot near Broadway Street and Brooklyn Avenue.
After the shooting, SAPD Chief William McManus released preliminary information that said detectives with SAPD’s ROP unit and Crisis Response Team were attempting to arrest Joseph Garcia, 22, who was wanted on several felony warrants.
McManus said he told the detectives, “I’m going to kill you. I have a gun,” then began digging in a bag or backpack.
A backseat passenger in the car, a 22-year-old man, was also wounded by the gunfire.
Shortly before 6 p.m. on Thursday, police said they had to take a similar action when a 39-year-old woman pointed a gun at them.
They were responding to a call at the time about a woman with a gun walking around near Babcock Road and Medical Drive.
“She turned, waving the gun,” McManus said. “My understanding is that she turned, pointing it. One officer fired one round.”
The woman, who survived the shooting, was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Only a few hours later, McManus was addressing news crews again about another shooting by officers.
In that case, he said, detectives had been following a 34-year-old man who was suspected of committing several robberies.
McManus said the investigators tried to conduct a traffic stop as that man left the scene of another robbery.
However, he said the man drove into a neighborhood, got out of the car and ran.
Officers caught up with him in the 1400 block of Cantrell St, where things took a deadly turn, McManus said.
“He turned toward the officers and reports are, he pointed the weapon and was shot by the officers he pointed the weapon at,” he said.
As of Friday afternoon, SAPD had not released the names of either person who was shot Thursday.
Both those shooting cases and the one from Sept. 14, are still under investigation.
At the scene following the Babcock Road shooting, McManus indicated there could be a snag regarding that case.
“I understand that the (officers’ body-worn camera) system was down for a while. I don’t know that it was back up yet,” he said.
Video from those cameras is usually part of the shooting investigation.
However, on Friday morning, the department’s public information office issued a clarification in an emailed statement:
“Yesterday, there were some concerns about a reported issue regarding SAPD’s Axon Body Worn Cameras (BWC). All issued BWC were functional and recording. The issue was related to internet connectivity with the Axon platform, which delayed some uploads. The COSA IT Department worked diligently to resolve the problem in a timely manner. All issues have since been resolved. This connectivity issue did not affect any BWC’s ability to capture any footage.”
McManus said the officers involved in this latest cluster of shootings have been placed on administrative duty, pending the outcome of the investigations.
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