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Suspect in shooting of 2 SAPD officers facing long list of charges

Jesse Garcia, Jr., being held on bonds totaling about $4 million

SAN ANTONIO – A man accused of shooting and wounding two San Antonio police officers and injuring a third officer is facing a long list of criminal charges in connection with the incident.

Police identified Jesse Garcia, Jr., 28, in a social media post early Friday as the suspect in the case.

Garcia was taken into custody late Thursday night after an hours-long standoff with police at a West Side apartment.

Jail records Friday morning showed he is charged with five counts of aggravated assault on a public servant, two counts of aggravated robbery, and one count of aggravated kidnapping from Thursday’s shooting incident that happened after 5 p.m.

Garcia was booked into the Bexar County jail with bonds totaling about $4 million.

According to preliminary information from SAPD, officers received a tip that Garcia, who had outstanding warrants, was in the 100 block of Camelot Court on the Southwest Side and set up surveillance.

Garcia then got in the passenger’s side of a blue Mitsubishi, which was driven by someone else.

As officers approached the car, it drove away and police started a pursuit.

When they reached the 100 block of Oriental Avenue just southwest of downtown, Garcia shot at the officers trailing him with a rifle.

A SWAT officer driving a patrol unit was struck, and a second officer in the passenger’s seat was injured by debris. Another officer in a separate vehicle was also fired upon but was not injured.

Shortly after, police say, Garcia and his driver exited the car. Garcia stole a vehicle at gunpoint, while his driver was detained, police said.

From there, Garcia headed west in the stolen vehicle and stopped in the 2600 block of Westward. There, he exited the vehicle and shot at officers before going to a unit at the Westwood Plaza Apartments.

Another officer was struck multiple times in that second round of gunfire.

The wounded officers were rushed to a hospital for treatment. As of Friday morning, the two officers who were shot remained hospitalized, recovering from what police described as “serious” wounds.

As of Friday, they are in stable condition. The officer injured by debris was treated and released.

Garcia, meanwhile, remained barricaded inside the apartment.

After several hours, a public information officer announced that the standoff had ended.

“Through our work with our SWAT and negotiation team and with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals, we are happy to say that the suspect is in custody,” said Sgt. Washington Moscoso with SAPD.

Moscoso said the arrest was made “without incident.”

“We did evacuate the buildings. We went pretty methodically to make sure that none of the public was in any kind of danger,” he said.

Although KSAT 12 News requested more information, specifically about the source of the aggravated kidnapping charge, SAPD did not respond right away.

The new charges against Garcia are in addition to those he faced before the shootings.

The warrants he already had were for charges including burglary of vehicles, evading arrest and being a felon in possession of a weapon.

The driver who was with Garcia has not been charged.

The investigation is ongoing.


About the Authors
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Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.

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