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Woman says she tried to save wounded driver in crashed car outside her West Side home

The shooting victim’s car hit Crystal De La Fuente’s home; the victim was later pronounced dead

SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio woman said she and a friend did all they could to save a wounded driver whom they found in a car that crashed outside her West Side home.

Crystal De La Fuente said her friend performed CPR on the driver while she listened to instructions from a 911 dispatcher.

Still, that person died of his wounds later at a hospital.

De La Fuente said she was inside her home around 8 p.m. Monday when she heard what, in hindsight, were unusual noises outside her home on Otter Drive.

“I heard the gunshot. I didn’t think that’s what it was,” De La Fuente said. “Maybe five seconds later, another gunshot went off and I felt my house, kind of, rattle a little bit.”

Within minutes, De La Fuente said a friend, who was outside in a camper, frantically began calling to her.

“I hear my friend screaming to call 911, bring towels,” De La Fuente recalled.

She then ran outside her home, where she noticed a car resting against the front of it.

De La Fuente said she also saw her friend attempting to pull the driver out of the crashed vehicle and begin to perform CPR.

She said police and first responders arrived soon after. They eventually took the driver to a hospital where he died.

In a report released Tuesday morning, San Antonio police officers said they still don’t know the motive for the shooting.

However, they believe there were three men involved who got away.

De La Fuente’s home escaped any serious damage. She and her family also avoided injury.

For her mother, though, De La Fuente said there was a close call.

As the victim’s car slowly began creeping up her driveway, De La Fuente said her mother was standing outside the home with her back to the street as she watered her plants.

Fortunately, the car curved to the right and hit a different area of the home.

“So, had she even been in the driveway, she could have been in harm’s path,” De La Fuente said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office has not positively identified the driver killed.

According to SAPD data, His murder brings the number of homicides in the city to 47 so far this year.

There were 58 homicides during the same period in 2024, data indicates.

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