SAN ANTONIO — A homeowner was shot after he went outside to investigate a possible car burglary in a neighborhood on the far west side, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office said. Now, BCSO is looking for up to four suspects who may have been involved in the shooting as well as other incidents in the same neighborhood.
The shooting happened around 5 a.m. Tuesday in the 8800 block of Creager Canyon, near Loop 1604 and Shaenfield Road.
BCSO says the 36-year-old homeowner heard someone breaking into his vehicle and went to investigate. That's when someone shot towards him and hit him in the abdominal area. Deputies say a white SUV took off from the location.
The victim, Christopher Santiago was taken to the hospital in stable condition. He spoke from his hospital bed with KENS 5 Tuesday. He said doctors had to perform an emergency surgery but were unable to get a bullet out of him.
He said he is not a gunowner but is now considering buying a gun.
"We had our garage door clickers in our car," Santiago said. "It would've taken them no time to open the garage and walk into our house and they had a gun, I had nothing."
Santiago said he is fed up with property crimes. He said he moved to the neighborhood recently because it appeared safe. He urges burglars to stop.
“Don’t ruin your life for materialistic things," Santiago said. "Don’t ruin somebody else’s life.”
Sheriff Javier Salazar gave a news conference Tuesday afternoon to detail more crimes believed to have been committed by the same group who shot Santiago.
Earlier in the night, Sheriff Salazar said surveillance video showed a group of suspects stealing a Lexus from just a few blocks away on Bowen Branch. The sheriff says they still have not recovered that Lexus, which had a license plate number of JBG9307.
More surveillance video from the same area showed a group of four suspects trying door handles on cars to see if they were unlocked. BCSO investigators believe someone in the same group shot the homeowner on Creager Canyon at 5 a.m.
Sheriff Salazar said in addition to locking your vehicle, there are other steps you can take to prevent being a victim of car burglary.
"Get in the habit of, at certain time each night, get out to your car, sanitize it, get everything out of there, lock it, take your keys," Sheriff Salazar said. "We certainly recommend you put a video camera on your car. If you could get one with a motion sensor on it, even better."
He also recommended that if you hear something outside, stay inside and hit the alarm on your key FOB, and that should be enough to scare the thieves away. He urged people not to approach the suspects and says the thieves they have seen have no regard for human life.
"I have no doubt that they were trying to kill that victim in this instance," Sheriff Salazar said.
If you have any information on this crime or the stolen Lexus, please call the Bexar County Sheriff's Office at 210-335-6000.
The family has set up a GoFundMe account to assist with medical expenses:
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