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Five SAPD Officers Fatally Shoot 69-Year-Old on West Side

San Antonio police opened an investigation after officers said they ordered a man to drop a loaded handgun that showed no sign of having been fired.

Overview

  • Five San Antonio Police Department officers shot and killed a 69-year-old man in the 600 block of Aurora Avenue after confronting him for waving a handgun, and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
  • Acting Police Chief Jesse Salame said investigators have found the weapon was loaded but no evidence it was fired, with a neighbor's video capturing officers issuing repeated verbal commands before shots were fired.
  • Neighbors said they had called police multiple times in recent weeks about the man's erratic behavior, citing early-morning drinking, talking to himself, prior threats involving a gun, and sightings of an ankle monitor.
  • SAPD placed the five officers on administrative duty while the department investigates, and the agency has publicly identified the officers with reported lengths of service.
  • The case has intensified questions about the city's crisis response because SA CORE teams do not respond to incidents involving weapons, leaving most mental-health calls to patrol officers as officials study a 911 triage pilot for lower-acuity cases.