SAPD video details officer-involved SWAT shooting
The San Antonio Police Department released video from an officer-involved shooting in early January on the West Side.
The incident occurred shortly after 2 a.m. Jan. 9 in the 6900 block of Timbercreek Drive at the Timbercreek Apartments.
SAPD dispatchers received several 911 calls about a man shooting guns outside of the apartment complex.
In the video, one caller said that he didn’t want to go out there because a man was shooting a “big gun.” Another caller said they kept hearing “the bullets fly by.”
Police later identified the shooter as Jose Vasquez, 43.
SAPD patrol officers attempted to secure the area around Vasquez when one of the officers stated that he heard him “rack a gun.”
Vasquez then fired several rounds at the officers as they retreated behind nearby vehicles. The SAPD negotiations unit and SWAT were called to the scene.
The video shows the twohour standoff between police and Vasquez near the back patio area of the apartment. Around 3:55 a.m., SWAT officer Jesse Noriega was in an armored vehicle when he shot at Vasquez, striking him.
Noriega’s body camera was off during the incident because of “inadvertent contact with his duty equipment or the roof hatch of the vehicle,” Sgt. Washington Moscoso said in a narrated version of the incident.
In the video, Noriega is heard saying, “That was me. He had a gun pointed at us here,” after striking him.
Vasquez was taken to a hospital in stable condition. He had been wearing a ballistic helmet during the incident, police said. Vasquez had a military background and a history of mental health concerns.
He was charged with aggravated assault against a public servant and two counts of deadly conduct with a firearm.