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Sheriff's Office releases 2nd video, 911 recordings of deputy-involved shooting

Gilbert Flores fatally shot by Bexar deputies

Image courtesy Bexar County Sheriff's Office.

SAN ANTONIO – The Bexar County Sheriff's Office has released a second video and 911 recordings of the deputy-involved killing of Gilbert Flores.

Flores was shot to death by Deputy Greg Vasquez and Deputy Robert Sanchez Aug. 28 after they responded to a domestic disturbance report in the 24400 block of Walnut Pass.

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The second video released Friday shows the incident from a different angle than a video KSAT 12 obtained after the shooting.

In the video released Friday, Flores can be seen walking around the front yard, driveway and street in front of the home. Before he was shot, Flores is shown picking up a Taser that the deputies tried to use to subdue him. Just before he is shot, Flores can be seen walking from the front of the home toward a Sheriff's Office SUV unit parked on the street. Flores is then seen walking toward the deputies before walking back toward the SUV. He then walks to end of the driveway and lifts his hands just before he was shot.

The Sheriff's Office uploaded the full witness video to YouTube. Watch it below or click here.

VIEWER WARNING: The video below shows the shooting of Flores and is graphic in nature.

Friday's video is the second that has surfaced of the shooting. KSAT 12 News exclusively obtained cellphone footage of the first video that appeared to show Flores raising his arms in surrender just before he was shot.

Click here to watch the video KSAT 12 News obtained.

The Sheriff's Office has said that the deputies tried unsuccessfully to use non-lethal force to subdue Flores.

911 calls

The Sheriff's Office also released recordings of the 911 dispatchers' calls with Flores and members of his family.

The calls tell a story that's not seen on either video. The initial call started with a cry for help.

"Please send the police over here. My son has gone crazy and he beat up his wife and she's bleeding," Flores' mother said as she talked to a 911 dispatcher.

Seconds into the call, Flores can be heard on the phone. The conversation went as follows:

DISPATCHER: Can you ask your mother how she got hurt?

FLORES: Are you going to send paramedics? She's bleeding. Thank you.

DISPATCHER: Sir?

WATCH: KSAT 12 reports on release of 911 calls and second video.

A second call comes. It's Flores' mother again. She tells the dispatcher Flores beat up his wife and gave his baby daughter a black eye.

FLORES' MOTHER: He's got a knife. He's got a knife.

DISPATCHER: He's got a knife right now? Was he trying to use it against anyone?

During one of the calls, Flores told dispatchers that he planned to die that day at the hands of law enforcement officers.

"I got a knife and I'm going to suicide by cop, so you better bring a SWAT team or whoever is going to get ready to pull the trigger because I'm going to die today," Flores can be heard saying in the 911 recordings.

The Sheriff's Office uploaded the full 911 recordings to YouTube. Listen below or click here.

The Sheriff's Office said investigators used the cellphone video KSAT obtained, as well as the second video, 911 calls and radio recordings during the investigation.

BCSO: ‘Deputies don't truly know what they're walking into until they arrive.’

Deputies knew Flores had beaten his wife and hurt his baby daughter. They also knew he had a knife because a relative told them when she called 911.

"He's in the house but I just want him out of here. He beat her up (his wife) and the baby not even 2 months, he gave her a black eye," said Flores mother while talking to 911.

BCSO spokesman James Keith says deputies can't truly prepare for what will happen until they get to the scene.

"The reality is deputies don't truly know what they're walking into until they arrive there on the scene. In this situation you clearly hear Gilbert Flores talking about suicide by cop," said Keith.

Keith is referring to the 911 tapes. Flores can be heard threatening the dispatcher.

"I got a knife and I'm going to suicide by cop so you better bring a SWAT team or whoever is going to get ready to pull the trigger, because I'm going to die today," Flores said while talking to a 911 dispatcher.

According to Keith, deputies have to rely on their training and expect the unexpected.

"As you see on the video Mr. Flores was not cooperative. At one point he grabs a Taser and throws it across the street. Our deputies tried to take him into custody using shields. Mr. Flores was very violent," Keith said.

Seconds later, Flores is shot and killed.

Keith said deputies are trained to handle any situation including one where someone has suicidal thoughts or mental health issues but they have to worry about their own personal safety.

"They wake up. They leave their homes and they don't know if they're going to return home that evening," said Keith.

A Bexar County grand jury voted Wednesday not to indict the two deputies in Flores' killing.

The Flores family is pursuing a civil lawsuit against the Sheriff's Office and the county.

Both deputies have been cleared to return to work.


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Reporter, proud Houstonian, U of H alumni, and lover of all the hometown sport teams.

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