SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Police Department released body-worn camera footage from an intense gunfight between SWAT and an ex-BCSO deputy.
Jose Vazquez, 43, was shot multiple times by bullets fired by Officer Jesse Noriega following a standoff that started at approximately 2 a.m. on Jan. 9 in the 6900 block of Timbercreek Drive on the far West Side.
Police arrived on the scene after receiving 911 calls about a man shooting a gun. One caller said bullets were hitting the walls of her apartment.
The body-worn camera footage shows officers walking around the outside of an apartment building.
One of the officers says,” I just heard him rack a gun, but I don’t have any visual.”
SWAT officers were called after Vazquez began firing at patrol cars, SAPD said. Officers evacuated the complex.
At about 3:30 a.m., SWAT Officer Noriega shot at Vazquez after seeing him point his gun at officers from the back patio of an apartment, according to SAPD. Noriega was in an elevated position inside an armored vehicle. His body-worn camera was not on during the shooting due to “inadvertent contact” with the armored vehicle, a police spokesperson said.
Another officer who was inside the armored vehicle captured audio of the shots fired by Noriega.
“That was me. He had a gun pointed at us here. He’s got a helmet. He’s wearing a helmet,” Noriega is heard saying on the video.
According to SAPD, officers administered first aid to Vazquez before he was transported to a hospital by EMS.
Vazquez was booked into the Bexar County Jail and charged with two counts of deadly conduct with a firearm and aggravated assault against a public servant. His bonds were set at $300,000.
Noriega, who has 23 years of service, was placed on administrative duty.
“This is our current understanding of the situation and it could change as investigators gather more information,” Sgt. Washington Moscoso said in a narrated version of the video posted to SAPD’s YouTube channel.
The investigation is ongoing.
Jose Vazquez’s history
BCSO confirmed to KSAT that Vazquez was employed with the department as a detention officer from April 2007 to August 2011. In August 2011, he was arrested for official oppression and given a dishonorable discharge, spokesperson Johnny Garcia told KSAT.
The official oppression charge against Vazquez was refiled and then dismissed, Bexar County court records show. He also has previous arrests for assault and deadly conduct-firearm, but all of his previous charges were dismissed.
SAPD said following the Jan. 9 incident, they found multiple weapons inside his apartment.