From residential areas, to a soccer field, to the North Star Mall, the first weekend of June brought bloodshed across the city. Many of the victims were teens.
SAN ANTONIO — The first weekend of June was a bloody one in San Antonio.
Between Friday and Sunday, there were six separate fatal shootings across the city. From residential areas, to a soccer field, to the North Star Mall, six were killed and six others injured in a series of shootings that haven’t been connected at this time. Many of the victims were teens, and police believe some of the victims were targeted.
The first shooting was at an apartment complex on the northeast side on Friday afternoon. SAPD said one teen was killed and another was injured, along with a 5-year-old boy and a 60-year-old woman. Chief William McManus said it was a drive-by targeting one of the teen boys who was shot.
He said the apartment complex where this happened is not known as a problem area, and said that a drive-by shooting can happen anywhere the intended target happens to be.
“Drive-by shootings are always dangerous to not only the intended target, but to other people who happen to be in the line of fire. Unfortunately in this case there were three other people in the line of fire who were not the intended target,” McManus said.
Drive-bys can happen anywhere, it just depends where the person that the shooters are after… it just depends where they are. It can happen anywhere,” McManus said.
McManus was asked about the impact hot weather has on violence in the community.
“We’re aware of the crime patterns when the weather changes, and we are gonna try to work that to prevent things from escalating, but I don’t know that today had anything to do with the weather,” he said.
Later that night at an east-side park, a fight during a soccer game ended in a fatal shooting. One man was shot in the chest and later died. The medical examiner identified him as Erik Rios Navarro, 19.
A few hours later on the far west side, a girl was killed in what witnesses told police was an accidental shooting. The victim was identified as Alea Briones, 17. Police said the suspect told them he was taking the gun apart when it went off and struck Briones in the stomach.
Early on Saturday morning, a Bexar County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a home near Fair Oaks Ranch where authorities said a man had assaulted some of his family members.
BCSO says the man assaulted the deputy with a knife, and that the deputy unsuccessfully tried to use a stun gun on him. Sheriff Javier Salazar says the deputy shot the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene. He has been identified as Ryan Stanush, 32. The deputy and one of the family members were injured.
On Saturday afternoon around 1 p.m., one person was killed and two others injured at an apartment complex on the east side. Again, McManus said he believed the shooting was targeted. He said a car with multiple people waited in the parking lot of the Antioch Village apartments and opened fire when the target left an apartment.
McManus said associates of the intended target showed up in a second car and tried to pick him up, leading to a shootout. He said one associate of the intended target was killed and two others were wounded. The victim who died has been identified as Geremiah Hardeman, 18.
Pastor Jondavid De Leon had held a church outreach event filled with food and games at the Antioch Village Apartments just the day before the shooting.
“It’s terrible, it’s heart wrenching,” De Leon said. “Bullet shells are littering and decorating the streets of the east side.”
On Sunday afternoon around 3 p.m., shoppers at North Star Mall ran for cover as shots rang out. Police said two men entered a barbershop inside the mall and opened fire on a man who was getting his hair cut. They believe he was targeted, and stressed it was not an active shooter situation.
Around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, police said a 30-year-old man was shot during an argument in the street on the northwest side. Police said the victim was in critical condition, but was conscious and talking. They said the suspect pulled a handgun from his bag and shot the man before fleeing down Evers Road on foot.
In total, six people across San Antonio were killed by gunfire in about 48 hours, all in separate shootings that don’t appear to be related as of now. Six other people were injured, between the ages of 5 and 60. At least four of the victims killed had not yet turned 20. Police believe three of these shootings were targeted against an individual, and two others stemmed from arguments. They said one was possibly accidental, and the other person was shot by a deputy responding to a domestic disturbance.
As of now police have not announced any arrests in any of these cases, nor have they given descriptions of possible suspects or their vehicles.
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