SAN ANTONIO — UPDATE: Law enforcement took Ronald Robinson, 20, into custody late Monday afternoon near downtown San Antonio, according to a social media post from the San Antonio Police Department. Robinson faces several Aggravated Assault Deadly Weapons charges, according to SAPD.
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San Antonio Police officials said a man on his way to church Sunday afternoon was ambushed in the church parking lot and shot.
A 6-year-old boy who was in the car with the victim was also hit by gunfire, according to SAPD Chief William McManus. The adult man, McManus said, is in critical condition while the boy's injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
The shooting happened on the 3500 block of Martin Luther King Drive, on the east side.
“My faith, our faith, it increases during times like these,” said Rosa Wilson, pastor of Greater Faith Institutional Church.
Wilson calls what happened outside the church on Sunday a tragedy. It’s an event she’s never experienced during her more than 20 years of serving as a pastor at the church.
“We’ve had it in the streets, but not here,” she said.
Eyewitnesses told police that the gunman had been lying in wait for the victim, hiding near a tree. Investigators were also told that the gunman was observed running from the scene through the neighborhood and that he was barefoot.
While the gunman was running west, police say the victims drove away in a panic looking for help. McManus said the shooting victim and his girlfriend, who was also in the car, drove to a nearby H-E-B grocery store to call for help.
It was a chaotic scene as church members rushed to the store parking lot to help their friends.
“This is just uncalled-for insanity,” McManus said of the incident, which he called a targeted attack. “All of the violence throughout this city is stepping over the line, but when you do it at a church event, that’s pretty much unheard of."
Meanwhile, Wilson is keeping everyone involved in her prayers.
“I’m praying for the victim and I’m praying for the accusers because they’re all still a child of the king. They just don’t know it,” Wilson said.
On Monday, Councilwoman Jada Andrews-Sullivan issued a statement: “To violate the normal arrangement in a place of prayer and worship is inadmissible interference in the affairs of the church, entire community, city and state. The disrespect for innocent human lives is inhuman and repulsive. The majority of upstanding citizens in the community strive for a safe place to live. In order to flush out the immoral inhumane acts of violence we as a community must band together. As Chief of Police William McManus stated at the scene of the crime calling it ‘uncalled for insanity’ and ‘will pull out all the stops to capture this individual sooner than later.’ The weakling destruction can no longer go uncounted for."