San Antonio police shooting of 17-year-old at McDonald’s parking lot was a ‘failure’ by the officer now facing charges, chief says

CNN, KWEX-DT

By Nouran Salahieh, Andy Rose and Amanda Musa, CNN

The shooting of an unarmed 17-year-old eating in his car at a McDonald’s parking lot in San Antonio was a “failure for one individual police officer” who is now in custody and facing aggravated assault charges, the police chief said Tuesday.

The police shooting, which left the teenager in critical condition, happened October 2, when now-former San Antonio officer James Brennand responded to an unrelated disturbance call at the restaurant and saw a car he believed had evaded police the day before.

Body camera footage released by police shows the officer walked up to the driver’s side of the car, opened the door, and ordered the driver out. The visibly startled teen put the car in reverse and started backing up.

The police officer then opened fire five times on the car, according to the video. As the driver shifted the vehicle to move forward, body camera video showed the officer opening fire an additional five times as the car drove away.

The teen, identified as Erik Cantu, was shot multiple times and was on a life support system, his family said Monday.

Brennand turned himself in to San Antonio Police Tuesday night on two counts of aggravated assault by a public servant, Police Chief William McManus said at a Tuesday news conference.

The chief said an aggravated assault charge was filed for each person who was in the car — the teenager in the driver’s seat and a passenger.

The shooting was “unjustified, both administratively and criminally,” and went against the department’s policies, McManus said.

“This was a failure for one individual police officer. It had nothing to do with our policies. Policies did not allow that, our training did not teach that. So this was a fail for one particular police officer,” the chief said.

Brennand did not respond to requests for comment from CNN prior to his arrest. It was not clear Tuesday night whether he had an attorney.

The chief has said the aggravated assault charges could rise to homicide if the 17-year-old does not survive.

The police department has been in contact with the district attorney’s office, which may need more information before it takes the case to the grand jury, the chief noted.

“We worked on this for several days to get to this point where we could submit a warrant to a judge for signature, and that’s where we are right now,” McManus said.

‘Horrific’ video shows shooting was unjustified, chief says

Looking at the bullet holes in the car while at the scene of the shooting, McManus recognized an issue immediately, he said.

The body camera footage also showed the officers’ actions weren’t in line with training, according to the chief.

“The video was horrific,” McManus told CNN’s Brianna Keilar Tuesday morning. “There is no question in anybody’s mind looking at that video that the shooting is not justified.”

McManus said department policy prohibits officers from shooting at moving vehicles, unless their life or someone else’s life is in immediate danger.

“You can tell by looking at the vehicles, which way the vehicle is moving when the shots are fired, and this vehicle, it was very telling to me, that this vehicle was moving away from the officer, and moving parallel with the officer, so it was pretty clear to me at that point that we were going to have an issue,” McManus said.

Brennand was a probationary officer with seven months of experience. He was fired for violating the agency’s tactics, training and procedures following the shooting, authorities said.

The teenager, Cantu, was initially charged with evading detention in a vehicle and assaulting the officer, after Brennand claimed he was struck by the door of the car as the teen backed up.

But Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales later said in a statement that “the facts and evidence we have received so far led us to reject the charges against Erik Cantu for further investigation.”

After the shooting, the teen was found a block away suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, while a passenger in the car was uninjured, police said.

The teenager’s family issued a statement Monday saying he was in critical condition after undergoing surgeries to repair injuries to major organs from bullets.

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