Residents panic after drive-by shooting in downtown neighborhood, demand better street lighting

Homeowner’s wife and daughter living elsewhere in fear that the gunmen will return

SAN ANTONIO – Home security cameras captured two people shooting up a home east of downtown San Antonio. Shortly after, a child is seen getting onto a school bus on the same street.

KSAT spoke to the homeowner of the house, who seemed to have been the target of the gunmen.

“That was like ten gunshots, right?” said the man whose house was shot at.

“What goes through your head when you watch that?” asked KSAT’s John Paul Barajas.

“I can’t think; I just have to wait and see if it happens again,” said the man, who asked to remain anonymous.

The shooting happened around 6 a.m. on Sept. 23 in the 100 block of Alabama Street.

The homeowner said his home was hit four to five times by the gunfire. Luckily, no people were injured.

“I give thanks to God that we are OK. We’re scared, but we’re OK,” said the homeowner.

The homeowner told KSAT that he had no clue why someone would shoot up his home. He believes more street lighting is needed to try and prevent the shooting from happening again.

“The neighbors have called for that reason, the lights. The city doesn’t pay attention, and neither does CPS Energy,” said the homeowner.

The neighbor also asked to remain anonymous but agreed with the man whose house was shot at.

“Explain to me how it looks here at night,” said Barajas.

“It’s dark, It’s really dark. It would be a big benefit to have more lighting,” the neighbor said. “Because you don’t know if you’re going to be out when they shoot or if they get the wrong house.”

KSAT contacted District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez’s office about the additional street lighting.

“Security lights can be installed anywhere if the homeowner is responsible for the payment. This is done through CPS Energy. Regular streetlights are warranted only if there is a gap of more than 600 feet. Right now, there is a streetlight on either end of the block, plus another mid-block. No additional lighting is warranted,” said Councilman McKee Rodriguez’s office.

“How are you living with everything that happened?” asked Barajas.

“It’s been difficult. My wife and my daughter aren’t staying here at the house for fear that they’ll come back,” said the homeowner.

San Antonio Police have not arrested anyone in the case.


About the Authors
John Paul Barajas headshot

John Paul Barajas is a reporter at KSAT 12. Previously, he worked at KRGV 5 in the Rio Grande Valley. He has a degree from the University of Houston. In his free time, he likes to get a workout in, spend time on the water and check out good eats and drinks.

Gavin Nesbitt is an award-winning photojournalist and video editor who joined KSAT in September 2021. He won a Lone Star Emmy, a Regional Murrow, a Texas Broadcast News Award, a Headliners Foundation Silver Showcase Award and 2 Telly Awards for his work covering the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

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