A Texas police officer who shot and wounded a teenager who was sitting in his car eating a hamburger has been fired, police said.
San Antonio officer James Brennand was fired after he shot and killed Erik Cantu, 17, in a McDonald’s parking lot on Oct. 2, police training chief Alyssa Campos said. video statement she posted Wednesday, which included footage of the incident from the officer’s bodycam.
Brennand responded to an unrelated disturbance at McDonald’s when he saw Cantu inside a car that had eluded him a day earlier, Campos said.
San Antonio Police Department
A Texas prosecutor said in a statement Friday that he had not seen enough evidence to charge the young man.
“While Sunday’s shooting of an unarmed teenager by a then-San Antonio police officer remains under investigation, the facts and evidence we have received so far have led us to dismiss the charges against Erik Cantu pending further investigation,” said Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales. .
Brennand, who had been with the unit for less than a year, violated his training and police procedures after approaching the car, Campos said.
“The officer suddenly opened the driver’s door and ordered the driver out of the car” before backup officers, which Brennand requested, arrived, Campos said.
Cantu, on the officer’s body camera video, looks at Brennand while holding a hamburger, then reverses the car and hits the officer with the open door.
Brennand then opened fire several times as the door closed and Cantu drove off.
Cantu, struck by the gunfire, pulled over nearby, where officers found him and a passenger, who was uninjured.
“There’s nothing I can say in defense of that officer’s actions that night,” Police Chief William McManus told WOAI-TV. “I think what happened was initially there was some contact, but that didn’t justify the shooting.”
Cantu was hospitalized in stable condition and initially charged with evading police and aggravated assault.
Gonzales, the district attorney, said no decision has been made on whether Brennand will be charged pending the outcome of the police investigation into the shooting.
“As with all officer-involved shootings that result in death or serious injury, we will present the case to a Grand Jury. Until that happens, we cannot comment further on this matter,” Gonzales said.
Police and Cantu’s attorney did not immediately return calls for comment Friday.
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