SAN ANTONIO – An argument on social media ended with a teen shot in a bustling East Side apartment complex on South New Braunfels Avenue, witnesses told police.
“I'm surprised because a bunch of kids hang around here, like 10, 9, 8, and I just can't believe this has happened here,” said Anne Marie Barron, whose apartment complex is now a crime scene.
Police said at about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, a 17-year-old male identified by SAPD as D’erryn Tivon Byrd opened fire on another teen in the middle of the parking lot at the Costa Almadena Apartments.
“All I heard was two big old gunshots,” Barron said. “Then I heard three more gunshots, and I was banging on my son's door and he opened the door and I said, 'Get down. They're shooting outside.'”
Barron’s son’s apartment is just steps from where investigators placed their makers over shell casings.
“I was so nervous. I dialed 911, and I was like, ‘They’re shooting outside the apartment complex,’” Barron said.
Witnesses told Sgt. Daniel Contreras, with the San Antonio Police Department, that the argument started online.
“Postings on Facebook, which involved somebody's girlfriend or something like that,” Contreras said.
Contreras said a group showed up to the complex for a fight. The suspected shooter pulled out a semi-automatic handgun, opened fire and hit several cars in the parking lot.
“Very dangerous. And being that he shot multiple times and here in the parking lot, he could have struck anybody,” Contreras said.
Contreras said the suspected shooter then chased the victim outside of his apartment and shot again, hitting the victim in the leg.
The victim was taken by an ambulance to SAMMC. He’s expected to recover.
“It could’ve been a lot worse,” Contreras said.
Barron said the whole situation was reckless.
“It was scare. It was real scary,” she said.
Police are searching for Byrd. He is wanted for aggravated assault with deadly weapon.
They said he may have jumped into a dark vehicle to get away from the scene.
Investigators have interviewed a number of witnesses who were there during the shooting.