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‘I thought my life was in danger’: Mother, son reunited after SAPD standoff separated them for hours

2 San Antonio police officers hospitalized

SAN ANTONIO – As law enforcement agencies searched a West Side apartment complex for a man suspected of shooting two San Antonio police officers, a 10-year-old boy barricaded himself inside his apartment.

“I thought my life was in danger at the time,” said Johnny Lozano as he sobbed. “I didn’t even want to move.”

RELATED ON KSAT.COM: 2 San Antonio police officers hospitalized after being shot; suspect arrested, chief says

For hours, he was stuck inside his apartment at Westwood Plaza.

Johnny said he didn’t think he’d get to hug his mom, Sandra Valadez, again.

“Yes, I told him, ‘You better run,’” she said, grabbing onto her son. “We were on Facetime the whole time.”

With the power to the apartment shut off and the helicopter buzzing above, Johnny hid.

“It’s pretty scary because ... I don’t know if he’s gonna come over here and come into one of our apartments or he’s gonna stay in the apartment he’s in so far,” he told KSAT in a FaceTime interview.

Valadez said the hours spent apart from her son were nail-biting.

“I’m telling you, I want to run,” she said. “If I could jump over the fence. I put on the vest to do it, to run to my son.”

After hours of FaceTime, calls and texts came the moment they prayed for — a hug.

Valadez said they would spend the night at a hotel.


About the Authors
Daniela Ibarra headshot

Daniela Ibarra joined the KSAT News team in July 2023. This isn’t her first time in the KSAT newsroom– the San Antonio native spent the summer of 2017 as an intern. Daniela is a proud Mean Green alum, earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Texas.

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