SAN ANTONIO — Life on Cat Mountain Street has been wild for the past few months according to some neighbors, and they said the when the danger came to a crashing conclusion nine days ago, they were afraid for their lives.
One neighbor who calls herself Ashley said she returned home from a late evening shopping trip to find her street being closed off.
"SWAT was here, there was an ambulance and a whole line of police cars," Ashley said, describing the way they barely made it back into the neighborhood, but then were told they couldn't go to their own home because the danger was just too great.
"We got off the car and went to a neighbor's house and we could hear the police on the megaphone. They were saying that he had to come out, that they had him surrounded," Ashley said of the conflict between her 18-year-old neighbor, Leandro Luevano, and police.
Police said they had a warrant for the teen's arrest, accusing him of attempted capital murder of a police officer - for shooting an SAPD officer just 22 hours before and about five miles away, at Marbach Road near Loop 410.
Contents of that affidavit have not been made available, but video posted to social media appears to confirm the police account of what happened when officers attempted to stop a sedan and shots rang out.
The video, shot from just a few feet away from the conflict, shows one officer taking up a defensive position and firing back at the car.
While the driver of the vehicle bailed out and immediately fell to the street in surrender, a passenger can be seen getting into the driver seat and taking off.
Police said the driver was Luevano and they were able to trace him to the Cat Mountain address, but when they showed up to arrest him, he started shooting at them.
"When we asked the officer what was happening he said there was a man barricaded and he had been shooting at the police," Ashley said.
"It all happened really fast. It felt like the blink of an eye," Ashley said of the way police continued to call the suspect by name, urging him to surrender peacefully.
Surveillance video from numerous cameras nearby captured audio of negotiators announcing they had the house surrounded.
"We could hear them on the megaphone calling him by name, Leandro," Ashley said, describing how they were afraid of collateral damage.
"We were afraid of ricochets or him going down the street just trying to shoot at different people," she said.
Until several months ago, Ashley said she and her neighbors felt like they were in a pretty safe neighborhood.
Another woman who lives nearby said things took a dangerous turn about one year ago.
"There have been multiple occasions of gunshots with some coming in the street and some coming in the back yards," the woman said. "There's been a lot of vandalism on our street and we've never had those issues until these kids started popping up more and more frequently."
Most neighbors blame the trouble on a homeowner who apparently turned her house over to young relatives.
When neighbors complained, they said police were unable to give them any safe solutions.
"I called the police on two occasions that I can think of and we kept being told there wasn't much that they could do, that there wasn't a lot of evidence even though they found shell casings in the middle of the street," the woman said.
Ashley added, "We were definitely frustrated. We really felt unheard. I know there are policies and procedures that police need to follow to obtain evidence and build a solid case but it really just felt sometimes that it wasn't a priority."
Ashley said it appeared that police didn't pursue Luevano until he attacked them.
"Unfortunately, it does feel that way," Ashley said, adding "Sometimes we wouldn't get a response or they would say 'Oh nobody's home,' even when we knew they were. Of course they're not going to answer the door. It felt like it wasn't a priority."
Online records on the SAPD website lists calls to Cat Mountain in April for an unlawfully carrying complaint and in July for a deadly conduct with a firearm issue.
In early November a report was made about a firearm being discharged. Ashley shared security camera video of one incident that shows what appears to be a large fight breaking out at the house, followed by muzzle flashes in the dark and a rapid succession of gunshots.
When police did arrive for what turned out to be a fatal result, neighbors said officers were able to breach the garage door to the home by crashing through it with a tactical vehicle. One neighbor said after the door was smashed, police used drones to enter the house and look around for danger. One man said he was told it was drone footage that showed officers Luevano was already dead.
But more than one week has passed and the Medical Examiner has yet to make a ruling on a cause and manner of death for Luevano. Neighbors said they are left wondering what really happened, and they are concerned about what will happen to the house now, as it remains a boarded up eyesore, with piles of shattered glass still littering the front porch and yard. Splintered and broken pieces of a privacy fence shield the view of window frames trashed during the confrontation.
As for the teen, online records show no previous arrest history in Bexar County for Luevano.
A Facebook post asking for help with funeral expenses indicates Luevano was a single father who was "very loving, caring and hard working." An online obituary simply says services are pending and a full tribute will be published in the near future.
KENS 5 is still working to obtain a cause and manner of death from the Medical Examiner and the affidavit for arrest that led to the deadly conflict.