SAN ANTONIO – A man was arrested after allegedly threatening his neighbor with a knife during a dispute on the South Side last month, according to an arrest affidavit. The neighbor shot him and told police he acted in self-defense.
Joseph Eddie Mendez, 58, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Bexar County jail records show.
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Officers responded around 4:30 p.m. April 24 in the 300 block of East Young Avenue after a man reported he shot a male.
The affidavit states officers found Mendez with a single gunshot wound in the front yard of his residence. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
The shooter told police that the confrontation began that morning when his wife called him to report that Mendez was allegedly throwing rocks into their yard and yelling at her father, the affidavit states.
Later that afternoon, the affidavit states that the shooter told police his wife called him again to say Mendez was throwing rocks at her in the front yard.
When the shooter returned home, he went to speak with Mendez, who became upset, removed his shirt and challenged him to a fight, the affidavit states.
Authorities said Mendez then pulled out a knife from his pocket before throwing a punch at the shooter, who drew his firearm and pointed it at Mendez.
When Mendez reached back into his pocket while advancing toward him, the shooter fired one round, the affidavit states.
Two witnesses and a cell phone video provided by the shooter’s wife corroborated what the shooter told police, according to the affidavit.
Body-worn camera footage from a responding officer showed a stainless-steel fixed-blade knife recovered from Mendez’s right pants pocket, the affidavit states.
According to the affidavit, investigators found prior incidents involving Mendez, including a 2024 emergency detention and a March 2026 report of him holding an axe on a sidewalk.
Mendez was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on Friday, court records show.
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