SAN ANTONIO – The pursuit of a man wanted in a deadly hit-and-run leads to the fatal shooting of that man at the hands of a San Antonio police officer Wednesday afternoon on the West Side.
According to police, two officers fired shots at Henry Castoreno, 48, in the 1300 block of Hillcrest Drive. The officers were looking for the man, who they said was well known to police and known to frequent the area.
The man was suspected of hitting and killing Albert Gonzales with a pickup truck earlier Wednesday afternoon -- the same day Gonzales marked his 38th birthday.
That hit-and-run happened in the parking lot of a Taco Cabana at Commerce Street and General McMullen Drive. Some kind of confrontation happened between the men, investigators said, and that led to Castoreno hitting Gonzales with a truck.
Gonzales later died at an area hospital.
Police say they were familiar with the description of the suspect and his vehicle and that's how they were able to track Castoreno to the 1300 block of Hillcrest.
"The officers were familiar with this individual and so that's why, when (his) vehicle description was put out, they knew to come to this location," said San Antonio police Deputy Chief Anthony Trevino.
One of the officers spotted the suspect and began chasing him. That's when the officer fired at least once shot.
The second officer -- coming from a different direction -- also spotted the man and fired her weapon, not knowing who fired the first shots, according to SAPD. Her shot hit the Castoreno in the chest. He later died at University Hospital.
"(She) made verbal commands to the individual (and he) did not comply with the verbal commands given by the officer," Trevino said. "The officer fired her weapon and struck the individual."
According to police investigators, Castoreno has previously made threats against law enforcement.
The two officers who fired their weapons are now on administrative duty.
The male officer has been with SAPD for three decades, while the female officer has been with the department for eight years.
At this point, police have not released what connection, if any, the two men had or what led up to the confrontation and hit-and-run.
Castoreno has a criminal past that includes charges of theft, drugs and unlawfully carrying a weapon.
Gonzales is also no stranger to the law. His own criminal history includes charges of robbery, aggravated assault, drunken driving and injury to a child.