SAN ANTONIO – A man who was the subject of a police standoff on the city’s South Side remained at large Friday after police tossed tear gas into his home and couldn’t find him.
The standoff began around 9:45 p.m. Thursday at a home on Humboldt Street, not far from both Interstate 35 and West Southcross.
According to San Antonio police, two men got into an argument at a taco stand. When one of the men got into his Jeep to drive off, the other man shot at the vehicle, striking a woman in the chest. The man in the Jeep drove to a nearby gas station, where he called for help, police said. The woman, believed to be in her mid-20s, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The man who opened fire drove off, presumably to his home on Humboldt Street, where a SWAT team and other officers tried to communicate with him, including by loudspeaker.
During a media briefing around 11 a.m. Friday, Police Chief William McManus said officers had visual confirmation early on in the standoff that the suspect was in the home, although there was no communication with him.
McManus said the woman who was killed had been or was involved in a relationship with the suspect. The chief was not sure if the suspect meant to shoot her when he fired at the vehicle.
About 30 minutes later, police tossed tear gas into the home, but after a thorough search of the residence, the suspect was nowhere to be found.
“There were a lot of indicators prior to our rescue coming out and setting up and using all these resources that led us to believe that there was somebody in the location,” said Sgt. Washington Moscoso, an SAPD spokesman.
The all-night standoff left neighbors concerned, frustrated and sleep deprived.
“Around 12:00, I heard ‘Roland, Roland, Roland,’ and I’m trying to go to sleep. And then, ‘Roland, Roland, Roland’ and then about 2 a.m. I still hear Roland, so I’m like ‘What did this Roland guy do?” a neighbor told KSAT 12 News.
Another neighbor said, “Nonstop the whole night, the whole entire neighborhood, nobody has slept, and people have to work.”
One neighbor said police should have made their move into the home sooner.
Police have not identified the suspect.