Suicidal armed man shot by officer near NE Side auto shop

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police officers called to an engine and transmission shop by the estranged wife of one of the mechanics, saying he was suicidal, were forced to shoot the man. 

Chief William McManus said when officers arrived to the 10600 block of Nacogdoches Road Monday, they heard an ominous sound.

“Man walked into an office and officers could hear racking, the slide of a rifle,” McManus said.

The officers took cover behind a vehicle in the parking lot. They could see the man, in his late 50s, was distraught.

“My understanding is he had the weapon at his head at one point, and at his mouth at one point,” McManus said.

McManus said for 20 minutes, police tried to talk him down to surrender his weapon, as the man kept walking toward the officers then back inside the office. The last time, he didn’t stop approaching the officers behind the vehicle.

“I don't know if he actually pointed the weapon. But that particular point is irrelevant, because you can't let a person get that close to you without cover,” McManus said.

McManus said one of the officers was forced to fire two shots, hitting the man in the leg and abdomen. No one else was injured. 

The 12-year veteran with SAPD is on administrative duty for now. The man who was shot, at last report, was still alive at SAMMC and is expected to face a charge of assault on a police officer.