San Antonio Man Follows Four Teens He Found in His Car Friday Night, and One of Them Fires a Shot at Him

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SAN ANTONIO, TX — A 36-year-old man who found four teenagers in his vehicle Friday night followed them on foot after they ran, and one of them fired a shot toward him, according to San Antonio police.

Officers responded at 9:25 p.m. to the 3800 block of Meadow Ridge near South Side Lions Park, as reported by News 4 San Antonio.

The man told police he saw four teenagers in his vehicle. The teens ran. He followed them. One of them fired a single shot in his direction.

No one was hurt. Police said they found no evidence that anyone was struck by gunfire. No suspects have been identified, and police have not said whether anything was taken from the vehicle.

Thankfully, he walked away from this one. A single round fired toward a man on foot could just as easily have ended with an ambulance instead of a police report.

When the four teens ran, the danger was moving away from him. By following them, he closed the distance on a group of four people whose intentions he did not know and whose hands he could not see. One of them was armed.

Chasing suspects is a mindset problem before it is a tactics problem. The urge to catch the people who were just inside your car is human. But a vehicle can be repaired or replaced. You cannot.

Following fleeing suspects also hands them every advantage. They pick the route, they know where they are headed, and they decide when to stop and face you. Four against one only makes that worse.

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For anyone who carries, the stakes go up further. A firearm is for an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm. Once suspects are running away, that threat is leaving with them. Choosing to pursue can make it far harder to argue you were the one being threatened if the encounter turns into a gunfight. Police have not said whether the man in this case was armed.

The better play is the boring one. Stay put, get to cover, call 911, and be the best witness you can be: number of suspects, clothing, direction of travel. Let officers do the chasing.

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