SAN ANTONIO – UPDATE 4/22/22 10:30 p.m.: Late Friday, San Antonio police said neither the man who was shot nor the Schertz off-duty police officer who fired at him and another woman in a vehicle would be booked at this time, pending more evidence from the investigation.
Police said the preliminary evidence showed the off-duty officer appeared to act in self-defense, and they do not currently have probable cause to believe otherwise.
Officials also gave more details about what they believed happened before the shooting.
SAPD said the off-duty officer and the man exchanged words in the parking lot, and the officer drove away without getting physical or threatening the man.
Video showed the man entering his van and pursuing the off-duty officer’s vehicle.
Police said the man then pulled along the side of the off-duty officer’s car and pointed a handgun at him. The off-duty officer feared for his life and those of the woman and child in his vehicle and fired toward the man, SAPD said.
The man and woman in the van were both hit by gunfire and wounded. Both are stable, police say.
KSAT will update this story as more information becomes available.
(Original Report)
An off-duty Schertz police officer shot and injured two people in a shooting at a Walmart parking lot on the far West Side after an altercation, according to San Antonio police and Schertz officials.
Officers were called to the parking lot of the store in the 11000 block of Potranco Road after 3 p.m. for a report of a shooting.
When police arrived, they found a 40-year-old man with several gunshot wounds, and his 39-year-old passenger was also hit by gunfire.
An SAPD spokesperson said there was an altercation between the shooter, who was in a sedan, and the other man, in a van, while they were in the parking lot.
As they were leaving, a witness told police she saw the shooter holding the two people at gunpoint while he was in his vehicle with a 24-year-old woman and a 4-year-old child, according to San Antonio police.
The shooter called 911 and stayed at the scene. Police said they took him into custody for questioning. It’s believed the altercation that led up to the shooting was related to road rage, but officers could not confirm until they investigate further.
The 40-year-old man and 39-year-old woman were hospitalized. Officers at the scene could not confirm their conditions.
The woman and child in the shooter’s vehicle were unharmed.
Schertz officials sent KSAT the following statement: “The City of Schertz is aware that an off-duty officer was involved in a shooting incident this afternoon. This incident is currently under investigation with the San Antonio Police Department.”
All SAPD information from the scene is preliminary and is subject to change pending further evidence. Officers are working to gather surveillance video from the area, they said.
Video streamed by a witness
A live video from a bystander captured the bloody aftermath of the shooting. The 9-minute footage began with a gunshot ringing out.
The man in the van could be seen outside of his vehicle with blood on his arms and shirt. Another man, believed to be the shooter, was seen on the phone and exchanging words with the bloodied man.
The victim got back into his van, which was stopped at the exit of the lot, and moved it to a grassy area off the road. The video showed several bullet holes in the van’s driver-side window.
Several witnesses approached the vehicle. Some of them also exchanged words with the man on the phone, who was about 50 feet away.
Someone asked the man, “Are you a police officer?” It’s unclear what he answered back to them.
When police arrived minutes later, they approached the van and spoke to the man inside. The man in the van pointed the officers toward the alleged shooter.
The bystander’s video then captured an officer coming up to the alleged shooter and searching him while his hands were up.
An officer was seen removing something from the alleged shooter’s body, but it’s not clear whether it was a weapon. Later, an officer is seen carrying a handgun to a cruiser.
The bloodied man in the van was taken out of the vehicle and placed against a police cruiser. Several gunshot wounds were visible on his body.
Shortly after standing against the cruiser, the man’s eyes rolled back, and he dropped to the ground.
Police removed his shirt and surveyed his wounds before he appeared to regain consciousness seconds later.
Two officers tended to the man’s wounds and applied tourniquets. Other officers helped a woman out of the van.
The video also showed a woman getting out of the gray sedan and tending to what appeared to be a child.
Another officer approached the man on the phone, collected his ID and appeared as if she was going to take a statement but then put away her notepad.
The alleged shooter was allowed to continue using his phone for the duration of the video.