San Antonio cop is fired after sneaking up on teenage couple and shooting startled driver
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Shocking moment rookie cop opens fire on startled 17-year-old eating a burger with girlfriend in McDonald’s parking lot: San Antonio cop is fired and teen is hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds
- James Brennand, who worked as a cop in San Antonio, Texas, was fired after shooting a teenager eating in his car
- Brennand thought 17-year-old Erik Cantu was in a car that had escaped police the night before and ordered him to get out
- Bodycam footage shows Cantu backing up and Brennand pulling his gun and shooting him
- Cantu suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to hospital – his condition remains unclear
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A San Antonio cop was fired on Wednesday after shooting a teenager who was eating in a parking lot at McDonald’s.
Erik Cantu (17) is still in hospital with multiple gunshot wounds and his condition is unclear.
James Brennand, a probationary police officer who served just seven months, was fired after being placed on administrative duty.
Brennand was called to McDonald’s for a reported malfunction before noticing Cantu’s car in front of the restaurant.
The officer thought it was the same car that fled him the night before when he tried to stop the vehicle, because the registered license plate did not match the vehicle.
Brennand approached Cantu’s maroon car and called for cover, but quickly tried to take matters into his own hands and opened the car door.
Police have not confirmed whether Cantu’s car was stolen.
He found a terrified Cantu in the car with a female passenger and ordered him to “get out of the car”, but the frightened teenager tried to reverse the car
When Cantu backed up, the door of the vehicle allegedly hit Brennand, after which the officer drew his pistol and immediately started firing at the teenage couple.
Brennand shoots repeatedly at the driver’s side window and yells “shots fired” into his radio, and Cantu tries to drive away
He surprised Cantu who was eating next to a 17-year-old female passenger and demanded that the teenager get out of the car.
As Cantu questioned the officer’s orders, he tried to reverse the car and Brennand caught the door.
Brennand, who has not yet been charged with a crime, quickly opened fire and shot into the driver’s side of the vehicle as Cantu backed up. into his radio.
Cantu pulled out of the parking lot and tried to drive away, but Brennand kept firing in the back of the vehicle.
The teens were then found outside the vehicle, a block from the shooting, and Cantu suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed to University Hospital.
Even when Cantu drove off, Brennand keeps firing in the vehicle
The police report said Brennand was performing CPR on Cantu when he overtook him, and the female passenger in the car was unharmed.
Cantu was even charged by proxy with evading detention in a vehicle and assaulting an officer.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said the investigation could take up to a year, and “the OM office will also review all evidence related to the charges against Erik Cantu once we receive it.”