Police seek tips on 1-year anniversary of UIW student’s shooting death

Joseph Banales’ family believes he was the victim of a road rage incident

SELMA, Texas – It’s been one year since a 22-year-old student at the University of Incarnate Word was shot and killed before crashing his vehicle in Selma, according to police.

The shooting happened around 11:45 p.m. on April 15, 2023, in the 15500 block of IH-35 N, near the Forum.

At the beginning of the investigation, police were unsure how Joseph Banales lost control of his vehicle, but he did have injuries to the back of his head.

As the Bexar County Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on Banales, the office found out Banales had died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Banales’ family believes he was the victim of a road rage incident.

Over the past year, the Selma Criminal Investigations Division partnered with several agencies to interview hundreds of witnesses, but a suspect has not been identified, according to Selma police.

Police said the suspect’s vehicle was a dark-colored sports car with a loud exhaust noise. The vehicle was last seen heading north on IH-35.

If you have any information regarding Banales’ death, please contact the Selma Police Department at 210-651-7813 or Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP.


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About the Author
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Spencer Heath is a Digital Journalist at KSAT. Spencer graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied Radio-Television-Film. He’s worked as a journalist in San Antonio since June of 2022. Outside the newsroom, he enjoys watching movies and spending time with family.

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