SAN ANTONIO – WARNING: The video in the player above and video linked within this story contains graphic images, language and the sound of gunshots. Viewer discretion is advised.
The San Antonio Police Department released body camera footage of a Dec. 3, 2024, police shooting on Friday.
An SAPD officer shot and killed a man in a drainage ditch following a foot chase on the North Side, according to SAPD.
Police said SAPD officer James Lopez attempted to stop and speak with Jeffrey Schopp, 33, around 3:15 p.m. on Dec. 3 in the 8500 block of Jones Maltsberger Road.
In the video, Lopez appears to call out to Schopp, who was holding a backpack and telling him to “come here” twice.
“Yes, sir. What’s up, sir?” Schopp replied.
According to the video, Lopez told Schopp to jump over the railing and asked him to get in front of the SAPD patrol vehicle. Schopp puts one leg over the railing and sits on it.
“I’m not doing all that, man. Am I under arrest?” Schopp responded to Lopez.
“You’re detained right now. Walk over there,” Lopez said. In the video, Lopez told Schopp he was being detained for crossing the street without a crosswalk.
However, after that, Schopp appears to apologize, but Lopez begins to raise his voice at him.
“I ain’t looking for an apology,” Lopez said in the video. “Come over here right now before I put you in handcuffs.”
The conversation began to escalate after Schopp continued to apologize.
“I ain’t listening to s---,” Lopez told Schopp. ”Come here. Come over here now.”
That’s when Schopp is seen in the video getting up from the railing and dropping his backpack. He started to run across the street, and Lopez chased after him.
Police said the chase went through a field and Schopp ran near a drainage ditch.
“Get the f--- on the ground,” Lopez said. Later in the footage, Lopez yells out to Schopp, “I’m going to f--- you up. You’re going to get tased, bro. I’m going to f------ tase you.”
According to an SAPD preliminary report, Lopez feared for the safety of assisting officers and began to fire his gun at Schopp multiple times as Schopp was running away across the drainage ditch.
Authorities said that Lopez then saw Schopp raise his gun, which resulted in him firing additional shots at him.
In the video, Lopez appears to tell other assisting officers that Schopp had a gun.
Schopp was across the drainage ditch when Lopez shot at Schopp three more times, striking him. However, police later said Schopp shot himself in the head as Lopez was shooting at him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lopez, who was not injured in the exchange, fired a total of 14 shots in the incident. He has four years of service with the department, SAPD said.
The police department said the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office is still reviewing this incident.
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