SAN ANTONIO – A woman who lives near the South Side street where a San Antonio police officer shot and killed a driver said she nearly slept through the incident.
The shooting happened around 2 a.m. Thursday after a traffic stop near E. Southcross and Mission Road.
RELATED: SAPD Chief McManus: Man with gun shot, killed by officer during altercation at traffic stop
According to police, the driver, a 42-year-old man, ignored two officers’ commands to get out of his vehicle, then fought with them when they tried to remove him.
“The suspect had a gun in his hand,” said Chief William McManus with SAPD. “And at some point during that altercation, the officer fired one round at the suspect.”
The chief pointed out that only one officer, a three-year veteran, fired his gun at the man.
The man was wounded in his side but did not survive, McManus said.
“I did not hear any shootings,” said Ashley Phillips, who lives nearby. “Shootings, unfortunately, are very common in this area and we did not hear anything.”
Phillips said she may have slept through the entire ordeal had it not been for the flashing lights outside her door.
“There are lights usually here, but not to that level. It was very bright,” Phillips said. “(I saw) tons of police cars, officers standing around. We saw detectives arrive at the scene. But that’s all we could see.”
Although Phillips suspected there had been a shooting, it wasn’t until she watched the news later that she learned the details, which she called “shocking.”
The shooting happened just down the street from Gilbert Elementary School.
As students arrived around 7:30 a.m., there were very few signs of the morning’s violence in that area.
In fact, police had cleared the scene within two hours of the shooting.
However, McManus said the investigation is far from being finished.
He said, among other things, investigators will be reviewing video from the officers’ body cameras to learn more.
While McManus did not release the name of the man who was killed right away, he did not hesitate is sharing other details.
“(The man) has a long history of violent offenses. Currently out on probation,” he said.
As of late Thursday morning, the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office was still working to positively identify the man.
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