A San Antonio police officer was shot in the hand Friday morning when the driver of the vehicle opened fire on the officer during a routine traffic stop.
The officer returned fire, killing two occupants in the vehicle and injuring the third.
What are the details?
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus explained during a media conference on the incident that the officer’s body camera was rolling but did not have audio, Fox News reported. The chief described what occurred according to what the footage showed.
“It was a very casual conversation from its appearance,” McManus said, saying that the discussion between the officer and the suspects lasted probably a minute or two when “all of a sudden the gun was pulled and [the officer] ran backward.”
He said multiple shots were fired from the truck.
Despite being shot in the hand, the officer was able to return fire, hitting all three occupants in the vehicle and reloading his service weapon at one point after it malfunctioned.
The male driver and a male passenger did not survive, but a female passenger was transported to a hospital with a gunshot wound to her chest.
McManus did not reveal the identity of the officer or the suspects, but said the officer had been with the department for five years. The chief added, “The officer is very lucky to be alive at that close range having been shot in the hand and not somewhere else more vital.”
Anything else?
McManus had just delivered a presser the day before to explain another officer-involved shooting in San Antonio.
On Thursday, a San Antonio Park Police officer fatally shot a suspect who allegedly drove the wrong way down the terminal roadway at San Antonio International Airport, before stepping out and “firing indiscriminately” at people — including the officer — when confronted.
The suspect, described as a man in his 40s, also fit the description of the suspect who had fired shots at people from a highway overpass earlier that day.
The airport suspect was known to police and had mental health issues, according to McManus.