The two officers shot by a 36-year-old man who officials say was taunting them were discharged from the hospital by Wednesday night.
SAN ANTONIO — Two San Antonio police officers who authorities say were shot by a man who had been taunting them just moments before were released from the hospital and are recovering, SAPD officials confirmed.
The officers injured in Wednesday morning’s incident outside a hotel on the far west side, in the area of Highway 90 and West Military Drive, were identified Thursday evening as Luis Cordova and Ethaniel Valdez. Cordova has been with the San Antonio Police Department for eight years, while Valdez has three years of service.
Both were discharged from the hospital by Wednesday night, the president of the local police union told KENS 5.
Valdez initially responded to the scene around 8:34 a.m. in response to a 911 call made by a woman and found the suspected shooter – now identified as 36-year-old Odon Paul Bustos – at the scene.
“As Officer Cordova and Officer Santiago arrived, the suspect began walking away and Officer Valdez attempted to stop the male from leaving,” an SAPD incident report states. That’s when Bustos “pulled a handgun out of his waistband and fired towards the officers.”
Two of them, Cordova and Valdez, were hit. According to the incident report, Cordova and Santiago returned fire and fatally hit Bustos. It was initially reported by police officials that all three officers discharged their weapons.
Police Chief William McManus said Wednesday that when Bustos confronted the officers, he told them “I am not going back to jail” before opening fire. The chief said that information was preliminary.
In a post on X, the police chief referred to the officers hospitalized after the incident as “very brave,” adding “we’re fortunate to have officers like these as members of SAPD.”
All the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave until further notice, pending internal investigations into the shooting.