Posted on 01/03/2003 8:37:17 AM PST by ChuckHam
Two San Antonio police officers were in surgery this morning and two others were seriously injured in a shootout early today at a Northeast Side restaurant. One man, the shooter, was killed.
At least three city officers suffered gunshot wounds in the attack at the Denny’s restaurant at Perrin Beitel Road and Loop 410. Police said at least one officer, who suffered several gunshot wounds to the chest, was not wearing a bulletproof vest.
The two officers most seriously injured were taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, and the two others were being treated at University Hospital.
Police Chief Albert Ortiz described it as “one heck of a fight.”
The officers were responding to a couple fighting at the restaurant, police spokesman Gabe Trevino said. Police said the scuffle inside the restaurant apparently broke out after the shooter saw his girlfriend with another man.
When police first arrived at about 3:30 a.m., the man assaulted one of the officers, grabbed his gun and began shooting. He followed the officer outside, got another officer's weapon and began shooting again.
At one point, the shootout continued into the parking lot of an adjacent motel complex.
Desk clerk Eric Dettloff, 33, said he was in the lobby when one of the wounded officers began banging on the front window.
“I could hear him pounding, just 'bam, bam, bam,’” Detloff said.
A nearby desk clerk shouted to Dettloff, “Get back! They're shooting! They're shooting!” he said.
When the gunfire subsided, Dettloff said he and the other desk clerk saw through the window that two injured officers were lying on the sidewalk — a gray-haired officer with a gunshot to the chest and another officer who appeared to have been shot in the area near the face.
About 15 yards away, the shooter lay dead on top of a third wounded officer.
“He died on top of the officer,” Trevino said.
A fourth officer was severely beaten.
No one inside the restaurant was injured.
A 16-year-old boy who was staying at a nearby motel with his mom and two brothers heard the gunshots.
“It woke me up, then I fell back asleep,” said Dustin Mattson of Illinois. “It sounded like firecrackers.”
A motel employee serving the continental breakfast for guests this morning walked by the window and glimpsed the crime scene outside.
“Oh, Lord,” she said.
MySanAntonio.com will have updates throughout the day on this developing story.
01/03/2003
Bad, very bad. The only good thing you can say is that the shooter is dead, and we won't have to wait years for his execution.
So, thank you for posting it!
Another piece of human garbage flushed down the toilet of life.
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