SAN ANTONIO — Charges that had been filed against a teen who was shot while fleeing from a San Antonio police officer have been dismissed.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said Friday afternoon that 17-year-old Eric Cantu will have charges related to the incident dismissed.
Those charges were evading detention in a vehicle and assault on a peace officer.
"There have been concerns in the community about the status of the officer and the teenager," Gonzales said. "I have instructed my office to dismiss the cases against this young man."
Gonzales left open the possibility that charges could be filed again in the future. He said he made the decision out of compassion because the teen is in critical condition in the hospital.
James Brennand, the San Antonio Police Department probationary officer who shot Cantu, has been terminated from his job.
The incident happened just before 10:30 p.m. Sunday near the McDonald's at Blanco and West Avenue, which is north of downtown.
Video shows the officer opened the driver's side door and ordered the teen out of the car. The car backed up, and within seconds the officer fired five shots into the car at point-blank range.
As the car drove away, the officer fired five more rounds. The teen was hit multiple times. There also was a passenger in the car with him.
"There's nothing that I can say that could defend what he did, his actions that night," San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said when video of the incident was released. "Officers are prohibited from shooting at moving vehicles unless it's in defense of life, and that particular case that evening was not in defense of life."
McManus said officers didn't find any guns on Cantu or in the car he was driving. He added that neither Cantu nor the car he was driving had anything to do with the disturbance call Brennand was responding to on Sunday night.