San Antonio's deadly start to summer sparks concern
SAN ANTONIO - It was a deadly start to summer in San Antonio this weekend. Six people were shot to death and several others were injured. Many of the victims were teenagers.
City officials tell us they're concerned, especially because community members—and children— were caught in the crossfire in these shootings.
But they say the solutions to gun violence are complex.
The shootings across San Antonio
Hundreds of people scattered Sunday after shots rang out in North Star Mall.
"We were in a store and all of a sudden everybody just started running," one mother told us.
33-year-old Adam Glass was gunned down as he got his hair cut.
Police said Monday that they have surveillance video of two suspects being dropped off at the mall and entering the barber shop.
"We heard gunshots and we all just like, hide, run," a group of teens said as they left the mall.
There were shootings across San Antonio starting on Friday night.
A fight at a local soccer field turned deadly when someone shot 19-year-old Erik Rios Navarro.
Then, another teen was killed in a shooting at a Northeast side apartment complex. A young boy and an older woman were injured in this shooting, but police say they weren't the targets.
Geremiah Hardeman, 18, was killed and two others were injured in an East side shooting.
On Sunday, two more people were shot in separate incidents.
"It may be a an anomaly this weekend, and I hope it is," said Councilman Melissa Cabello Havrda, the head of the Public Safety Committee. "But we can't count on that, you know, we've got to figure out the answer."
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus says not all of these shootings are connected, and he stressed to the community, they aren't random either.
"Each of these events was targeted," McManus said.
Violence reduction plans
The city council got a crime update from police and UTSA just a few days ago after the first few months of their violent crime reduction plan.
They were told most violent crimes are trending down.
"It is difficult to see a report that says our violent crime is going down, and then in one weekend, we see tragically, six people killed," Havrda said.
But council members aren't giving up hope. They say the overall plan needs more time to truly work.
"Never has the city really engaged in this kind of planning and using data to help us attack the problem," said Councilman Manny Pelaez. "I have all the reasons to believe that we are headed in the right direction. However, this is the beginning of a very, very large undertaking."
Because several victims were young, we asked McManus how the department can address violence specifically in this age group.
"That's a good question, it's also a complex answer, and one that I don't have an answer to," McManus said.
For the Public Safety Committee, we're told the youth component is going to be a big priority moving forward.
"What we need to do is focus on on the solution. How can we help these kids with what they're going through, either getting them back in school, getting them into programs, teaching them about gun violence..." Havrda said.
"I think there's consensus here that this cannot just be a city of San Antonio, SAPD effort," Pelaez said. "This has to be a cross-sector effort where we're going to have to involve schools, we're gonna have to involve the faith community, we're gonna have to involve the business community, nonprofits, and we're gonna have to engage with parents and families."
Solutions to slow the violence
Chief McManus says access to guns is a big factor in these shootings.
"It seems that anyone who wants to carry a gun is carrying it," McManus said.
He also specifically points at offenders who are out on bond, or on probation, and continuing to find trouble.
I think, in many cases, there are people walking the streets who should be in jail. I will say that again and again and again," McManus said. "We so often arrest people who are out on more than one bond, they're out on probation, and they get arrested again, and that probation is not revoked, and there's another bond issued. That is an issue. It's an issue for the police department and it's an issue for every person walking the street.
We asked Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales about these comments.
He says he shares the chief's frustration on this, but there's only so much he can do within the confines of the law and set process.
We're fighting hard to make sure that these people that commit violent offenses are being punished, but again, remember, the system allows someone to be out on bond pending their trial. And so we have to just work within the system until if it ever changes," Gonzales said.
We asked if Gonzales sees this as a magistrate's issue more so than a DA issue.
"I'm not pointing the finger at the magistrate judges, but they only may only have a limited picture a lot of times," Gonzales explained. "If somebody brings in someone on, for example, an aggravated robbery or murder case, we will immediately scramble to get as much information in front of that judge about that person's prior criminal history or whether or not that person has any pending charges. But, the judge may not have all that information. Judges are often made, or put in situations, where they have to make decisions about about setting bonds."
Gonzales says it has happened before where his office feels a bond isn't high enough.
"We can then go to court and request a bond be increased. That's one of the stop gap measures that we have in our office. And again, we've done that from time to time. But that's the system that we have, and we have to work within the system," Gonzales said. "Ultimately, it's up to the magistrate judges, but we can certainly recommend higher than normal bonds, if the facts mandate it."
"Everyone in Texas, with very limited exceptions, has a right to a bond has the right to bond out," Gonzales said. "Until the system is changed, and that's the problem with it, until we go to a true no cash system where you can't then go hire a bondsman to bond you out, if you're accused of a serious crime, there's always going to be that potential that that person is released."