SAN ANTONIO – Seven San Antonio police officers shot and killed Roberto Gonzalez, 34, on Sept. 19, 2024, officials said.
Gonzalez was shot and killed after running from police and pointing a gun at them, according to SAPD.
Gonzalez’s son, Robert, told KSAT he wants SAPD to adopt better de-escalation policies.
“Considering that these police officers had been there for several years and had years of experience with the police department, I would expect them to be able to de-escalate and properly assess the situation, but I didn’t see much of that,” Robert Gonzalez said.
The night of the shooting, police were watching Gonzalez because he had a warrant for aggravated robbery. Police eventually followed him to perform a traffic stop. During the traffic stop, police arrested the driver of the vehicle, but Gonzalez then took the vehicle, drove away, and ran into the woods, officials said.
“From my understanding, the reasoning for his running was because he didn’t want to be put away in jail again,” Robert said.
While running into the woods, Gonzalez stopped at a fence with a gun in his hand. SAPD Chief William McManus said Gonzalez pointed the gun at officers, and that’s when officers shot at Gonzales.
“Law enforcement, not only one didn’t de-escalate the situation, but two, four officers did not assess the situation accurately,” Robert said. “There are three officers that initiated the fire, and then the other four that came on to the line with those officers immediately fired off without understanding what was going on.”
Gonzalez was pronounced dead on the scene, and all seven officers were placed on administrative duty amid multiple investigations, the department said. The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, SAPD’s Shooting Team, and Internal Affairs Unit are all investigating the shooting.
“What I want people to take away from this situation isn’t the fact that somebody was killed, but more so the incompetence of some of the law enforcement inside of our police department,” Robert Gonzalez said.