SAN ANTONIO -- A burglar shot at a homeowner who interrupted a car burglary Thursday morning in west Bexar County, sheriff's officials said.

The homeowner was getting ready to go to work at 6 a.m., when he yelled at the burglar in the driveway of his home in the 10000 block of Rustic Cedar, sheriff's officials said.

The burglar then ran, and when the homeowner ran after him, the burglar suddenly turned and shot at the homeowner, who was not hit, sheriff's officials said.

The burglar then joined an accomplice and they took off in a white Chevrolet pickup, sheriff's officials said.

Ino Badillo of the Bexar County Sheriff's Office said that many burglars these days are carrying weapons.

"You've got to believe that they got a gun," Badillo said. "You've got to believe they're going to take the necessary action to get away."

Sheena Valadez, whose vehicle was among two that were broken into prior to the burglary, blamed the incident on the nation's economic crisis.

"People are getting laid off," she said. "It's not as easy to go to the banks and get your loans. They're taking desperate measures to do what they can. Unfortunately, they don't care about other people."

Sheriff's officials are investigating whether the men were also involved in a rash of auto burglaries in a neighboring subdivision.