An illegal immigrant, Jorge Chacon-Gutierrez, critically injured a San Antonio police officer in a Sunday morning shootout, highlighting gaps in immigration enforcement and law enforcement's response to violent threats.
The man who fired a rifle at a San Antonio police officer early Sunday morning was in the country illegally, federal and local law enforcement sources told WOAI/KABB.
While the Bexar County Medical Examiner has not officially identified the man, independent sources revealed his name and shared his photo.
Jorge Chacon-Gutierrez, 25, is reportedly the man who shot and critically injured an officer responding to an assault call around 3 a.m. Sunday.
Records show that Chacon-Gutierrez was apprehended by border authorities in Eagle Pass, Texas, in November 2023 for being unlawfully present in the United States. He was given a notice to appear at a later date and released from federal custody without any conditions of bond or release.
The windows of a second-story apartment at a complex on Patricia Drive, where the shooting occurred, were riddled with bullet holes.
Police reported that Chacon-Gutierrez was lying in bed with a rifle when officers arrived at the apartment in response to the family violence assault call. He opened fire on the officers.
Officers returned fire while retreating, and the department's SWAT unit and tactical resources were deployed to get Chacon-Gutierrez to surrender. Around 8 a.m., officers entered the apartment and found him deceased, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said. It is too early to determine if Chacon-Gutierrez died from the officers' gunfire or his own.
Neighbors recounted the massive law enforcement presence, including Manuel Perez, who lives across the hall from the gunman. Perez saw police arrive and witnessed officers pulling the wounded officer to safety after shots were fired.
Perez described it as an "evening from hell" as law enforcement used a loudspeaker and other tools to call Chacon-Gutierrez out of the apartment for several hours before finally entering and finding him deceased. Perez noted that he had never had problems with the neighbor.
It is unclear to whom the rifle belonged and what screening was done before Chacon-Gutierrez was released from custody on the immigration charge, but authorities are continuing to investigate these questions.
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