SAN ANTONIO — Two people were reportedly shot in what officials say was a possible smuggling operation found on the southeast side of San Antonio.
San Antonio Police responded to the 900 block of South Walters Street around 1:45 a.m. Sunday for reports of a shooting.
When officers arrived, they found a 24-year-old victim with a graze wound from a gunshot. Witnesses told police that an unknown suspect drove up and began firing off shots, then fled the scene.
As officers were investigating the shooting, they found an additional 17-year-old victim inside a pickup truck, sitting with four other people. He was also reportedly grazed by a bullet, suffering a minor injury.
Homeland Security was notified of the possible human smuggling case involving the five people in the truck.
Police say the suspect fled from the scene before they arrived.
Both victims were taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The migrants were all taken to the Migrant Resource Center for assistance.
Both of these investigations remain ongoing.
Homeland Security investigation
Homeland Security is investigating the possible human smuggling incident.
“We’ve initiated 169 human smuggling investigations this year," deputy in charge of Homeland Security in San Antonio Jennifer Huerta said.
Huerta said every year there is an uptick in human smuggling because people come over looking for work but this comes with a lot of hazards.
Getting into triple digit heat Huerta said people will pack migrants in spaces that are not safe to try and get them across the boarder.
"There’s no real concern for peoples’ safety…they [human smugglers] just see them [migrants] as a dollar sign," Huerta added.
She also wants to warn people of the signs of stash houses. Huerta said to look out for anything out of the ordinary like windows being boarded up, trash piling up outside a home, locks out the exterior of doors that wouldn't allow people to leave the home and people you may not recognize at the home.
"It doesn’t mean it’s a stash house but maybe you can call us and we’ll look into it."
Huerta also mentioned the strides their department has made with local and foreign law enforcement.
Data they are able to gather, offices they can communicate with enable HSI to have a presence and pass information.
"We rely on our foreign partners many times to provide us data that will help us with the victims and suspects of these events."