Motorist shot and killed on Northwest Side was a three-minute drive from home

Victim identified as Arnulfo Adrian Cortez, 35

SAN ANTONIO – A man shot and killed Tuesday night as he drove along Loop 410 on the Northwest Side has been identified as 35-year-old Arnulfo Adrian Cortez.

Cortez, whose vehicle crashed through a utility pole and stanchion before colliding with a rock wall around 8 p.m. Tuesday near Mossrock Drive and Robin Hill, died from multiple gunshot wounds, the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Thursday morning.

“Sounded like something I’ve never heard before. A crazy crash of things cracking and breaking. Just a super loud boom,” said a man who lives across the street from the crash scene who asked that he not be identified.

He said he approached Cortez’s vehicle to see if he needed help, but after cutting away his airbag saw that Cortez was unresponsive and slouched over the passenger seat.

The neighbor described the impact Cortez’s vehicle made with the wall as a head-on collision.

Kevin Lee Perez, 33, has been charged with murder, according to SAPD. Image: Bexar County Jail (KSAT)

He also said Cortez appeared to suffer a significant injury to his upper back.

The path of destruction indicates that Cortez’s vehicle likely drifted off of the frontage road and drove through a parking lot before hitting the wall.

Kevin Perez, 33, has been charged with murder in connection to Cortez’s death.

SAPD officials on Wednesday first said that a burglary call at an apartment on Oakdell Way, about five miles northwest of the crash scene, was related to the shooting.

Officials have since said that the Oakdell address is not relevant to the shooting and is instead where Perez lives.

Cortez’s last known address was a Balcones Heights apartment complex, about a three-minute drive from where he crashed.

An SAPD spokesman said via email Thursday that investigators are trying to determine where Perez was standing while firing the weapon.

Officials have said Perez fired off rounds indiscriminately while arguing with his girlfriend.

Perez, who has a lengthy criminal history in Bexar County, also faces a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, booking records show.


About the Authors:

Emmy-award winning reporter Dillon Collier joined KSAT Investigates in September 2016. Dillon's investigative stories air weeknights on the Nightbeat and on the Six O'Clock News. Dillon is a two-time Houston Press Club Journalist of the Year and a Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Reporter of the Year.

Joshua Saunders is an Emmy-nominated photographer/editor who has worked in the San Antonio market for the past 20 years. Joshua works in the Defenders unit, covering crime and corruption throughout the city.