SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Police Department released body camera footage from two separate shootings involving officers that took place within hours of each other on Sept. 19, 2024.
6 p.m. on Sept. 19
The first incident took place just before 6 p.m., when officers were dispatched to the 2800 block of Babcock Road after receiving several reports of a "suspicious person with a gun."
As a part of their Critical Incident Video review of this case, SAPD shared a dispatch call from a witness who can be heard reporting that a woman "has (the gun) in her hand, just swinging it around and she looks irritated."
Two officers arrived on the scene and located the woman, identified as 38-year-old Janelle Harris, holding a gun. When officers asked her to drop the weapon, she can be heard in the footage responding to the officers saying, "F**k no! F**k no! How 'bout I pop you in the head?"
The officers continued to ask her to drop the weapon. Officials say she instead raised the gun in the officers' direction, causing one of them to fire one bullet that struck her torso.
Police performed life-saving measures on Harris until EMS could arrive and take her to a local hospital.
Further investigation revealed that the weapon Harris was carrying was in fact an airsoft gun.
Harris was charged with two counts of Aggravated Assault–Peace Officer and two counts of Obstruction/Retaliation.
9 p.m. on Sept. 19
The other compilation of footage released by SAPD covers an incident that happened hours later, about 16 miles away, as police were pursuing someone suspected in a string of robberies.
This shooting, however, turned out to be deadly.
The footage shows when police conducted a traffic stop on the car belonging to 34-year-old Roberto Guadalupe Gonzalez, who was in the front passenger seat at the time. Officers at the scene noticed Gonzalez had a weapon, according to SAPD officials, and shouted “He’s got a gun!” before the car is seen taking off.
The suspect eventually drove into a drainage ditch and tried to escape on foot, according to police. An SAPD helicopter was deployed to track Gonzalez through the nighttime darkness; footage from that camera shows someone trying to hide from police in a wooded area while helicopter personnel guides officers to him.
“To your right, guys, to your right. Turn right, turn right, turn right,” the helicopter operator can be heard saying. “He’s in the wooded area to your right.”
Soon after, officers are seen cornering a man identified as Gonzalez against a fence in the 1400 block of Cantrell, while commanding him to drop his gun. In the footage, he can be seen with what appears to be a firearm in his right hand. Officials said Gonzalez raised his gun at officers, who responded by firing at him.
Seven SAPD officers discharged their weapons. Gonzalez died at the scene.
The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing, according to police. The officers involved had been two and five years of service time with SAPD.