A deadly shootout unfolded Thursday afternoon in San Antonio, Texas, when a car owner, hot on the trail of his stolen Ford truck, ended tracked down the alleged thief at a local mall.
According to The New York Post, Thursday’s incident resulted in the alleged thief’s death and left both the vehicle’s owner and a female accomplice injured.
According to a press briefing by San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, the owner of the stolen vehicle and his passenger discovered their missing truck, occupied by a male and female, in another section of the South Park Mall parking lot.
The truck owner, who remains anonymous, held the pair at gunpoint, instructing the driver to sit by a tire while waiting for police arrival. However, the confrontation quickly spiraled out of control when the thief brandished a firearm, triggering a gunfire exchange.
“At some point, the person who stole the vehicle and who is now being held at gunpoint by the owner of the vehicle produced a weapon from his waistband and shoots the owner of the vehicle,” McManus said.
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The male suspect was declared dead on the scene by San Antonio police. Both the vehicle’s owner and the female accomplice were rushed to a nearby hospital, with the owner in stable condition and the female accomplice in critical condition.
Police highlighted the owner’s right to pursue his stolen property but advised against such dangerous confrontations. “The owner of the stolen vehicle certainly has the right to track down his stolen vehicle. Now we would prefer that they call the police before taking that into your own hands, but he did what he felt he needed to do,” McManus said.
On the other hand, the deceased suspect’s brother, Jose Garcia, questioned the owner’s actions, dubbing him a “vigilante.” He argued, “A vehicle is not worth taking someone’s life… You don’t take the law into your own hands.”
This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.
