A former San Antonio police officer who shot a teenager multiple times while he was sitting in a car eating a hamburger turned himself in to the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) on Tuesday after being charged with two counts of aggravated assault by a public servant.
The incident occurred on October 2 in a McDonald’s parking lot on the 11700 block of Blanco Road.
Then-SAPD police officer James Brennand was responding to an unrelated disturbance call at the fast-food restaurant when he approached 17-year-old Erik Cantu’s car.
Brennand claimed he recognized it as a stolen vehicle that had evaded him the day before, said SAPD training commander Alyssa Campos in a video statement addressing the shooting.
“The officer thought the car may be a stolen vehicle and called for cover. Before cover officers arrived, the officer abruptly opened the driver’s door and ordered the driver out of the car,” stated Campos.
In bodycam footage captured by Brennand, Cantu can apparently be seen with a burger in his hand, looking surprised.
According to Brennand, Cantu put the vehicle in reverse in an attempt to flee. Brennand claimed that the car door hit him, so he responded by firing his service weapon roughly a dozen times at Cantu as the teenager drove away.
The 17-year-old was shot multiple times, per NBC News.
Cantu was found a block away along with a 17-year-old female passenger, who was uninjured. He was subsequently hospitalized.
Police initially charged the teenager with evading police and aggravated assault, but Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales refused to pursue the counts, stating, “The facts and evidence we have received so far led us to reject the charges against Erik Cantu,” per AP News.
“There is nothing I can say in defense of that officer’s actions that night,” stated SAPD Police Chief William McManus, speaking with News 4 San Antonio. “I think what happened, initially, there was some contact made, but that did not justify the shooting.”
SAPD fired Brennand on October 4, two days after the shooting.
As of Tuesday, Cantu remains hospitalized, unconscious, and on life support, according to his family’s attorney, per NBC News.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Cantu’s parents said:
“We have no comment to the former officer’s arrest at this time. Our main priority is Erik’s recovery. Erik is still on life-support and is non-responsive but his oxygen levels are showing an improvement. We are being patient and optimistic that better health is coming. Please continue to keep Erik in your thoughts and prayers.”
