Bexar deputies omit detail about shooting
Video shows man had hands raised before fired upon
SAN ANTONIO — Two Bexar County deputies who fatally shot Gilbert Flores last year failed to tell investigators that Flores had raised his hands in apparent surrender moments before they opened fire, according to sworn statements that explain, for the first time, their version of events of the controversial shooting.
Deputies Robert Sanchez and Greg Vasquez both gave statements to county investigators after the Aug. 28 shooting that described a tense altercation with Flores, who was armed with a knife and yelling at the deputies to kill him.
Flores had already tried unsuccessfully to stab one of them outside his parents’ home on the far northwest side.
“Knowing the situation had kept escalating I believe it was the male’s intent to kill me,” Vasquez said in a written statement that was made public this week as part of a lawsuit filed by Flores’ family against the deputies and the Bexar County Sheriff ’s Office.
But neither deputy mentioned that Flores had raised his hands over his head when they both shot at him — a crucial detail that did not become public until a bystander’s video was broadcast by KSATTV later that evening.
The deputies gave their statements before the video was made public.
A second, longer video of the altercation was recorded by neighbors but wasn’t immediately released by authorities.
“The factual statements made by officers Vasquez and Sanchez in these written statements are in direct conflict with the videotape of the shooting and are, in crucial portions, complete fabrications,” attorneys Thomas J. Henry and Robert Wilson wrote in a motion seeking a copy of the investigative file and documents related to grand jury proceedings.
No criminal charges were filed against the deputies.