Police standoff on NW Side ends with suspect fatally shooting himself, police chief says

Chief McManus: ‘We were dealing with a very, very violent individual who had a very violent past’

SAN ANTONIO – An armed man who San Antonio police described as a “very violent individual who had a very violent past” barricaded himself inside a Northwest Side apartment for about 6.5 hours Wednesday before a combination of police and the suspect’s gunfire brought the standoff to a fatal end.

Police Chief William McManus said the standoff began around noon when the man, who was on parole for murder, got into an argument with a woman and shot at her four times as she fled an apartment in the 5900 block of Danny Kaye Drive. McManus did not know the relationship between the two.

McManus said the man ran back into the apartment and barricaded himself for several hours. Despite a team of social workers, police negotiators, mental health officers, and the man’s parole officer, he refused to come out of the unit.

“He was very animated about not wanting to come out,” McManus said.

At around 6:30 p.m., the suspect started shooting at officers out of one of the apartment’s window, McManus said.

Police returned one round, striking the man in the shoulder, McManus said. The suspect then turned a gun on himself, fatally wounding himself.

The officer who wounded the suspect, a 20-year veteran of the force, will be placed on administrative duty while the incident is investigated.

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David Ibañez has been managing editor of KSAT.com since the website's launch in October 2000.