SAPD chief speaks publicly for first time about Marquise Jones case

McManus: 'I wanted to clear the air'

SAN ANTONIO – While wrapping up a City Council briefing on his department’s use of force policies, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus delivered a stern, direct message.

“I have no use, zero use, for bad cops. Don’t tolerate them. Never have, never will,” he said.

He continued to address the council, for the first time publicly, about the death of Marquise Jones, who was fatally shot by an SAPD officer.

“If I thought that that shooting was a bad one, if I thought it was against policy, if I thought that there wasn’t a gun, if I thought it wasn’t justified, I would've filed charges on that officer. I've done it before,” McManus said.

Officer Robert Encina was working security at Chacho’s & Chalucci’s restaurant on the 8600 block of Perrin Beitel in February 2014.

“Mr. Jones had a gun. The officer saw him with a gun. An independent witness saw him with a gun,” McManus said. “The driver of the vehicle that Mr. Jones had been in prior to the shooting said in his statement to the investigator that when the shots were being fired, he believe that Mr. Jones was the one shooting.”

McManus said Encina told investigators Jones turned toward him, armed, when Encina fired.

When asked why McManus felt the need to speak about the Marquise Jones case, McManus replied, “I hear misstatements about what factually happened, what is shown and proven in the investigation, and I wanted to clear the air of it as far as what the facts were.”

In December, a grand jury chose not to indict Encina for the shooting.

Jones’ family has asked Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood to have a second grand jury examine the case.

LaHood said that would only happen if new evidence was brought forward.

The Jones family has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, SAPD and the restaurant claiming the shooting was unjustified.

No trial date has been set.

The family has already reached a settlement with Chacho’s & Chalucci’s. 


About the Author:

Myra Arthur is passionate about San Antonio and sharing its stories. She graduated high school in the Alamo City and always wanted to anchor and report in her hometown. Myra anchors KSAT News at 6:00 p.m. and hosts and reports for the streaming show, KSAT Explains. She joined KSAT in 2012 after anchoring and reporting in Waco and Corpus Christi.