SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio police officer shot and killed a man Thursday afternoon while responding to a domestic disturbance on the city’s North Side.
SAPD Chief William McManus said the officer shot the man, 33, because he was armed with a gun and the officer was trying to keep him from reaching a woman he was allegedly stalking.
The shooting happened around 12:30 p.m. in the 11900 block of Bammel Lane near Churchill High School.
McManus said the couple had dated for about five years, but the woman, who is in her mid-20s, told police she hadn’t seen him for about a year until very recently when she discovered he had been tracking her. McManus said the man may have put a tracking device on the woman’s car.
When the man showed up at the woman’s home today, she texted a detective she had been working with on the case.
Police responded to the home with several officers going to the front and several to the back.
At one point, the man walked toward officers with a gun pointed at his head.
When he started to walk back toward the woman, an officer fired at him to keep him from reaching the woman, McManus said.
McManus said he wasn’t sure if the woman was inside or outside of the house at the time, but the officer felt like the man posed a threat to the woman.
The man, 33, died at the scene.
The officer is a 28-year SAPD veteran. McManus said there would be an investigation “as we routinely do.”
McManus said the man had a protective order against him filed in Hidalgo County and had several active felony warrants.
McManus mentioned this was Domestic Violence Awareness month and had a message for other victims.
“This was a tragedy waiting to happen,” McManus said. “Anyone in an abusive relationship, there is plenty of help out there. All you have to do is make that call.”
Click here for a list of domestic violence resources.