SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police said a woman was arrested in connection with a police shooting where she claimed she was armed and expressed intent to harm herself.
Officers were called just after 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 16 to a home in the 200 block of Loma Park Drive where they said Karen Martinez, 30, was armed and had threatened to kill herself on her ex-boyfriend’s front porch.
According to Martinez’s arrest affidavit, San Antonio Police Officer Zachary Clifton approached Martinez and commanded her to show him her hands.
Martinez told Officer Clifton that she had a gun and that she was going to kill herself with it, court records indicated. Martinez then told Officer Clifton that she had a blade-like object on her, according to the affidavit.
Officer Clifton deployed his Taser on Martinez after she refused to comply with his commands, an SAPD detective wrote in the affidavit.
The affidavit stated that the Taser did not affect Martinez as she was approached by a second officer, who was identified as Lacy Huerta. Martinez tried to swing her arms at Officer Clifton and run past him, court records showed.
Martinez ran past Officers Clifton and Huerta and away from the porch as a third police officer, identified as Andrew Davis, approached Martinez, the affidavit stated.
Davis, court records stated, believed Martinez had a knife.
Officer Davis fired his department-assigned gun at Martinez, striking her twice, the SAPD detective wrote in the affidavit.
The detective later wrote in the affidavit that investigators did not find a knife or blade in Martinez’s possession. Court records did not mention the recovery of a gun, either.
An SAPD update released on Saturday appeared to contradict some details found in Martinez’s arrest affidavit. According to SAPD’s update, Officer Davis shot Martinez one time. In the arrest affidavit, an SAPD detective wrote that Davis shot Martinez twice.
Additionally, SAPD’s update stated that Martinez “made slashing motions toward her arm with a blade-like object in her hand” despite the arrest affidavit stating that “no knife or blade was found on the Defendant (Martinez).”
KSAT reached out to SAPD on Saturday regarding the discrepancies between SAPD’s update on Saturday and Martinez’s arrest affidavit, including how many times Martinez was shot and whether or not investigators found a knife, blade-like object, or gun in Martinez’s possession.
As of 8 p.m. Saturday, SAPD has yet to respond to KSAT’s questions.
Martinez was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. According to SAPD’s update on Saturday, she remains in critical condition.
Martinez faces two charges of making a terroristic threat against a peace officer, Bexar County jail records show.
A Bexar County judge set Martinez’s bond for each charge at $100,000, which totals $200,000.
Davis, who SAPD said has been with the department for three years, has been placed on administrative leave while the department’s Shooting Team and Internal Affairs Unit conduct separate investigations into the shooting.
When completed, the findings in both investigations will be submitted to the Bexar County District Attorney’s office for further review.
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