SAN ANTONIO – A man shot and killed by San Antonio police on Wednesday morning had used a handgun weeks earlier to rob a food mart on the South Side, records obtained Thursday by KSAT Investigates allege.
Odon Bustos, 36, died after engaging in a shootout with three SAPD officers around 8:30 a.m. outside of a motel in the 6800 block of U.S. Highway 90 westbound near West Military Drive.
Two officers were shot during the gunfight, but have since been released from the hospital.
Surveillance cameras captured Bustos robbing food mart
At the time of his death on Wednesday morning, Bustos was wanted on warrants issued by three separate law enforcement entities, SAPD sources told KSAT.
SAPD officers, however, were not at the motel to take Bustos into custody on the warrants when the shootout took place, sources told KSAT.
SAPD records obtained by KSAT on Thursday indicate that Bustos flashed a handgun in his waistband while demanding a clerk at a South Side food mart hand over money from a cash register on Sept. 19.
Bustos took off from the store with $300 in cash and a few stolen items, an incident report states.
An image taken from surveillance footage shows Bustos standing in front of the counter.
The store’s owner confirmed to KSAT on Thursday that SAPD investigators gathered the same footage shortly after the robbery took place.
A felony warrant for aggravated robbery was issued for Bustos on Sept. 20, records show.
At the time of his death, Bustos was also wanted on a warrant for a state parole violation issued in early August and on a warrant issued in Dimmit County last month for obstructing a court order, records show.
‘This is way too much’
Danny Diaz, president of the San Antonio Police Officers’ Association, told KSAT hours after Wednesday’s gunfight that Bustos should have been in jail at the time of the shooting.
“This is way too much. It’s the same song and dance. The same thing I’ve been complaining about for years now,” said Diaz, who contends that criminals “are pushing the limit now” since they are not facing serious consequences for breaking the law in San Antonio.
Diaz pointed out that 20 SAPD officers have been shot in the past three years.
Bustos, who had been in and out of prison and jail for parts of nearly a decade, had been ordered back to prison in September 2024 after a Bexar County judge revoked his probation on a 2021 felony weapons charge, records show.
Bustos was sentenced to two years in prison but was given credit for 285 days of time served, court records show.
He stayed in custody after the revocation hearing for less than three months, records show.
Prosecutors months earlier, in July 2024, rejected a separate weapons charge against Bustos after the arresting agency failed to provide the necessary evidence to move forward with the case, a spokesperson for the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office said via email.
A separate criminal charge of mail theft was dismissed in 2024, but was taken into consideration as part of Bustos’ probation being revoked, the DA’s office and Bustos’ criminal defense attorney confirmed to KSAT.
“In both cases, the office conducted a thorough review of the circumstances and acted in accordance with Texas law. Our office consistently applies the law based on the evidence received and remains committed to protecting the safety and interests of the community,” a DA spokeswoman told KSAT via email Thursday.
DA officials declined to make District Attorney Joe Gonzales available for an interview for this story.
When Bustos was ordered back to prison for violating probation, he had criminal convictions for felony drug possession, being a felon in possession of a firearm and family assault, court records show.
A spokeswoman for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles confirmed Bustos was most recently released from prison on mandatory supervision on Dec. 2, 2024.
“Mandatory Supervision is a legislatively mandated release of a prisoner to parole supervision when the combination of actual calendar time and good conduct time equal the sentence,” the spokeswoman said via email.
Bustos’ criminal history includes at least a dozen arrests in Bexar County and other parts of the state. Many of those charges were later dismissed, or taken into consideration as part of a plea agreement on other charges, records show.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
Also on KSAT.com: