Teenager shot by officer develops problems
Erik Cantu, the 17-year-old who was shot by a since-fired San Antonio police officer, was back in the hospital recently after experiencing complications from his injuries.
The teenager was readmitted to the hospital last week for three days due to issues with his stomach and digestive tract, according to a Dec.3 update posted on the Gofundme webpage created to raise money for Cantu’s medical bills.
“In the wake of all the great news that attributes to our little miracle we find ourselves back in the place that helped him stay with us,” the Cantu family wrote on the Gofundme page. “Yet again we make our way back home with our hearts in our hand knowing this is not the end, only the beginning to a whole new life. Prayers.”
Cantu spent nearly two months in the hospital after being shot on Oct. 2 by police officer James Brennand, who has since been fired, arrested and indicted in connection with the shooting. For much of Cantu’s
“Yet again we make our way back home with our hearts in our hand knowing this is not the end, only the beginning to a whole new life.” Cantu family
time in the hospital, his condition was “touch and go” while he recovered from wounds to his liver, diaphragm, bicep, chest and stomach, as well as a bullet lodged near his heart.
Body camera video footage from the night of the shooting showed Brennand approach Cantu’s car as the teen sat in the parking lot outside a Mcdonald’s restaurant in the 11700 block of Blanco Road. Brennand,
who was in the parking lot in response to a disturbance that Cantu was not involved in, spotted Cantu’s car and recognized it as one that had fled from him during an attempted traffic stop the day before.
The former officer opened the driver-side door and demanded that the teenager exit the car. The body camera footage shows a shocked Cantu eating a hamburger next to a female in his passenger seat. Cantu drove his vehicle in reverse for several feet, with the still-open car door hitting Brennand’s leg, and then sped forward away from the officer and toward the parking lot exit.
Brennand fired at least 10 times toward Cantu as the car backed up and sped away.
Cantu was found nearby with multiple gunshot wounds and was taken in critical condition to University Hospital, where he remained for several weeks on a ventilator. He was released in late November to continue his recovery at home.
Brennand was a probationary officer who had been with the San Antonio Police Department for seven months prior to the shooting. He was fired days after the shooting, and a criminal investigation was opened.
He was arrested on Oct. 11 and indicted on Dec. 1 on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a peace officer and one count of attempted murder.
Attempted murder is a second-degree felony that carries a sentence ranging from two to 20 years in prison. Each count of aggravated assault by a peace officer, a first-degree felony, carries a sentence ranging from five years to life in prison.