Nicholas Rodriguez, 15, is one of two young men killed when the car they were in was being driven at officers, authorities said.
SAN ANTONIO — A second person is dead after authorities said law enforcement’s attempt to stop a stolen car in downtown San Antonio last Thursday resulted in police officers shooting at the vehicle as it was being driven toward them.
The car eventually hit a building along the 300 block of Commerce, where San Antonio police pulled out two occupants before it burst into flames. Nathaniel Ray Moreno, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police officials.
The second person, now identified by the Bexar County medical examiner, 15-year-old Nicholas Rodriguez, was taken to a local hospital in “very critical condition” before he died. While Moreno was found to have died from gunshot wounds, officials have yet to determine a cause of death for Nicholas.
According to SAPD Assistant Chief Robert Blanton, officers patrolling the downtown area Thursday afternoon noticed a stolen car and pursued until it left the area. It eventually returned, at which point officers deployed spike strips to try and stop it.
It’s unclear how effective the spike strips were, but officers went on to try and box in the vehicle in the area of Flores and West Commerce, the same corner City Hall sits on. The driver still “refused to stop,” Blanton said, instead backing up and hitting multiple vehicles before driving “around towards the officers” who had gotten out of their patrol units.
“When the subjects drove toward the officers, they were in fear and they discharged their firearms,” Blanton said.
It’s unknown exactly how many shots were fired, but the car continued for “about a block” down Commerce before it “struck a building and caught fire.” A bystander captured video of the incident as the car started smoking and burst into flames.
The video also shows the efforts of uniformed officers who pulled the two injured men from the car to get them away from the danger.
SAPD is conducting an internal investigation of the incident.