Police believe celebratory gunfire left one woman shot in the arm on Christmas. City Council members want the public to call in gunshots at every opportunity.
SAN ANTONIO — SAPD raced into action to stop a gun shot wound from bleeding on Christmas day.
Police found a 31-year-old woman shot in the arm at the Residences at Salado on the city’s east side. They did not, however, find a shooter. The woman’s father told police they were simply walking across the apartment complex parking lot together when the woman suddenly hit the ground after being struck by a bullet. Police say the father had heard gunshots nearby.
“He said he heard shots fired, he heard about seven gun shots. He thought someone was shooting in the air at the apartment next door so he told the daughter ‘we’ve got to go inside,'” Sgt. Mario Montoya said. “He assumed that she tripped but she was actually shot.”
Montoya says no one in the area saw who fired the bullets but many people heard the shots. He said the department was able to respond quickly and the woman was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
“The officers were able to apply tourniquets to stop the bleeding,” Sgt. Montoya said. “She didn’t lose a lot of blood. The officers were able to get here very quickly.”
The San Antonio Police Department and the City Council had just discussed the dangers of celebratory gunfire the previous Wednesday. An SAPD presentation said the city had documented 361 shots fired calls on January 1 of this year and another 304 shots fired on July 4. Councilwoman Teri Castillo said it’s not a new issue.
“This is something that we hear time and time again, especially around the holidays.” Castillo said. “There’s gunshots. When I follow up (with people who told me) ‘did you report it?’ It’s always a ‘no’ right?”
Castillo said she hopes that more people will report gunfire going forward to help the city find a solution.
“Reporting and collecting that data is important to create a strategy and a path forward to reduce those gunshots,” Castillo said.
Sgt. Montoya told KENS 5 gunshots fired in the air can also enter homes on the way down. He hopes people will think about their actions before putting the public in danger.
“That projectile is very fast and is going to end up somewhere. The worst possible place to end up is shooting somebody, the bullet going into a home and hurting a family, a baby.” Montoya said. “You gotta think about these things.”