7 San Antonio police officers shot by barricaded suspect, authorities say
The police chief of San Antonio, Texas, said seven police officers were shot and killed Wednesday night by a suspect who was trapped in a roadblock. He added that the suspect was found dead from a gunshot wound.
Sheriff William McManus told reporters that the incident occurred when police received a call from the suspect’s family reporting a “suicide in progress” at an apartment complex in the Stone Oak community north of San Antonio.
The arriving first officer was “shot in the lower body,” McManus said.
“Another officer who arrived after him, or around the same time as him, was also shot,” the police chief added. “A third officer who arrived at the scene was also shot. Finally, a fourth officer who arrived at the scene was shot The officer was also shot, I believe in the upper torso.”
McManus said four officers were taken to the hospital with injuries believed to be non-life-threatening.
Later, in a Video posted on FacebookMcManus said the number of officers shot was actually seven in total. He did not disclose the conditions of the other three.
McManus said in the video that it was unclear whether the suspect shot himself or was shot by police.
He described the suspect as a man in his 40s.
“On January 18, the suspect was arrested three times, two for assault and one for drink driving. He was out on bail at the time,” McManus said.
Some surrounding units were evacuated during the incident, which lasted “several hours,” McManus said in the video.
The four injured officers McManus initially mentioned had between four and eight years of experience with the department, he said.
Joseph Loredo, a resident of the apartment complex, Tell CBS San Antonio affiliate KENS-TV As he was studying for his exam, he “heard a loud bang” and saw a helicopter overhead. He said he later heard a series of gunshots.
“I just heard a loud bang; like a pop. I didn’t think anything of it, and my mom lives with me, so she asked me to come out to the balcony because she was hearing a lot of noise,” Loredo said . “Sure enough, when we walked out on the balcony, we heard a bunch of helicopters. And then 20 seconds after we got there, we heard more gunshots. There were about two or three gunshots. I told my mom, ‘Hey, Mom, those were gunshots.'”
