SAN ANTONIO – Sunday marks three months since a Northside ISD officer shot a woman ‘becoming aggressive’ at the Dub Farris Athletic Complex, and some NISD families still have more questions than answers.
On Oct. 28, Barry Perez, the NISD assistant superintendent of communications, said a woman was acting aggressively while in her parked vehicle outside the stadium before the 2 p.m. football game between Sotomayor and O’Connor. He said NISD officers, directing traffic nearby, saw the woman. Perez in his statement that day, said the woman became “aggressive and belligerent” toward one of the officers and drove toward him “in a threatening manner.” That’s when he pulled out his gun and shot her once in the arm. She was taken by EMS to the hospital and her injury was non-life-threatening.
“At no time were any students or adults at the event in danger,” Perez said in the statement sent on Oct. 28.
NISD confirmed the officer who shot the woman has been placed on administrative duty pending further investigation, and said the San Antonio Police Department would take over the investigation.
Several sources told KSAT that the woman who was shot had connections to Sotomayor High School. Those sources are NISD employees who asked to remain anonymous. They said the shooting occurred before kickoff and that they had no confirmed information going into the match. One of the sources said it was “grossly mishandled.” Some families exiting the stadium on Oct. 28 said they didn’t even know a shooting had happened.
On Monday, Oct. 30, KSAT 12 reached back out to SAPD and NISD asking for the names of both the officer and the woman involved and what charges, if any, had been made. Per state law, to request the body camera footage of what happened -- the person or agency requesting must name the subject of the recording.
SAPD and NISD denied these initial requests as the investigation was still “active” and no charges had yet been made. Three months later and after more than a dozen requests from KSAT 12, statements from SAPD and NISD have not changed. And, both denied interview requests.
Just this week, SAPD confirmed the investigation was still ongoing, but said it would soon wrap up and be sent to the District Attorney’s Office. SAPD referred to NISD to release the names of those involved.
Perez, representing NISD, said in an email this week that per “the advice of legal counsel” the district would not release the names. KSAT 12 asked why, and Perez said “I understand this to be normal protocol, given that this is still an active case.”
One of the top concerns of NISD families who attended the football game on Oct. 28 was that no announcement was ever made acknowledging the shooting had happened. Perez said NISD police determined on the scene that the shooting was “isolated.”
“District staff worked with leaders from both campuses to determine what communication was appropriate for their respective school communities,” Perez said via an emailed statement. “No announcement was made at the game as it was proceeding without incident.”
Perez said the communication team for the district debriefed after the shooting.
“In this specific instance, we also discussed any benefit to each campus sending communication,” Perez said. “However, neither principal of the two campuses in attendance had any inquiries or concerns sent to them.”
When KSAT 12 followed up with SAPD if there was an expected timeline for the rest of the investigation, there wasn’t an email back by this publish date.