SAN ANTONIO, Texas – San Antonio homicide investigators have determined that a man who claimed self-defense when he shot a driver actually committed a crime.
They arrested 31-year-old San Gabriel Esquivel Jr. on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
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Police say a 20-year-old man in a Toyota Tundra slammed into the back of the suspect’s car after 5:30 a.m. Thursday.
The car was parked in front of the suspect’s home on Maple Valley, not far from Medina Base Road and Ray Ellison, at the time.
The impact knocked the compact car the length of about three houses.
“The owner of the Corolla came outside to see what was going on and then saw that his car had been damaged,” said Sgt. Robert Mount with SAPD. “And then he went to speak to the driver of the Tundra.”
SAPD said the man behind the wheel of the Tundra had remained at the scene for about 30 minutes after the crash.
Mount said after the two men began talking, things took a violent turn, with Esquivel shooting the man in the Tundra.
“He was claiming that the driver of the Tundra was reaching for a weapon, and we did recover two weapons at the scene,” Mount said.
Police said one of the guns belonged to the car owner, while the other was found inside the pickup.
The driver of the pickup then left the scene, police say, and stopped near the Loop 410 access road just south of Medina Base Road.
“It doesn’t look like he crashed out, but he probably just stopped. That’s probably as far as he could go after being shot,” Mount said.
Police said the man in the pickup suffered three life-threatening gunshot wounds. At last check, he was in surgery at a hospital.
Investigators spent some time interviewing Esquivel. They announced Thursday afternoon that he would face criminal charges.
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