Category: San Antonio News

The Castroville city council is scheduled to discuss the employment status of the town’s police chief Tuesday night, days after he was accused of repeatedly using the N-word at a murder scene earlier this month.

Chief Brian Jackson, who is accused of saying the racial slur at least three times, was recorded on a body camera worn by a Medina County Sheriff’s Office deputy, a source familiar with the incident confirmed Monday.

Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown told the KSAT 12 Defenders late Monday that he contacted several Castroville city officials after hearing inappropriate language in the footage.

Brown declined to discuss the exact nature of Jackson’s comments and referred additional inquiries to Medina County District Attorney Mark Haby.

Haby was in court Tuesday morning and unavailable for comment.

The KSAT 12 Defenders have requested the body-worn camera footage related to the incident.

Multiple law enforcement agencies, including MCSO and Castroville PD, responded near Houston Street and Hwy. 90 Feb. 5, after a body was found.

A Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman on Monday identified the victim in the case as Elijah Chandler and said a suspect, Jeremiah Brown, has now been charged. The spokesman stated its Rangers division is assisting Castroville PD with the case.

A source familiar with the murder investigation said Jackson was recorded saying the slur three times, while discussing where the victim was from.

Jackson did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.

Castroville Mayor Darrin Schroeder released the following statement via email Tuesday morning:

“The City of Castroville does not tolerate discrimination of any kind. Our criminal justice system cannot be shaped by biased policing and unfair judicial precedents, including attitudes and actions that are rooted in racism and other forms of discrimination. The emotional, mental, physical, and financial impact on our communities is a tangible experience for too many and must be taken seriously. The threat of racial violence is real, so we must take seriously all words and actions that can be precursors to that. Everyone deserves due process. We have been notified of allegations against Police Chief Jackson and are investigating them according to our policies and with all diligence. We believe in all human rights, so we will not discipline simply on rumors or hearsay, but we will act decisively if we determine guilt of discrimination.”

Jackson is one of several city officials whose employment status is slated to be discussed during Tuesday’s council meeting, scheduled for 5 p.m. at 1209 Fiorella Street in Castroville.

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Get ready to celebrate elote at the SA Roasted Corn Festival this March.

The free festival is set to take place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 26 at 6750 U.S. Highway 87 E, near the S Foster Road intersection.

According to Eventbrite, there will be several elote vendors, a kid’s craft area, live music and entertainment.

Elote, a traditional Mexican street food, is typically roasted and then covered with mayonnaise and other toppings like Cotija cheese, lime juice, cilantro and chili powder.

Tickets will not be required for the festival but preregistration is available on Eventbrite. Guests who preregister will be entered into a drawing to win four free meal vouchers at the festival.

There will also be a “Best Elote” competition among vendors and guests can vote on their favorites.

This is the second annual roasted corn festival in San Antonio. The first was scheduled for March 2020 but was pushed back to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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The names of two men killed in a North Side shootout, including an innocent bystander, have been released by the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Enrique Bocanegra, 66, and Christopher James Mejia, 14, were pronounced dead at 2:45 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said the incident started when a green Suburban with five occupants parked outside a gas station near the intersection of Blanco Road and West Mariposa Drive. The Suburban had been circling the gas station.

At some point, someone went up to the car, and “it looked like there was some sort of deal getting ready to go down,” McManus said.

One of the passengers stepped out of the car with a gun in his hand and that’s when the shooting started.

That person, later identified as Mejia, was killed by the gunman who had initially approached the SUV, McManus said. Another passenger was injured.

Bocanegra was inside his home at the time of the shooting and was killed by a stray bullet.

“What we saw here today was risky behavior, and it resulted in the senseless death of a resident in the neighborhood,” McManus said. “It’s just insane that people have no respect for other people’s safety. I’m outraged by this and trying to contain my emotion right now.”

Bashrat Hussain, the store manager at the convenience store, said Bocanegra was a regular customer and always had a smile on his face.

Police are still searching for the gunman who walked up to the SUV, and the three other passengers of the Suburban have been detained pending further investigation.

KSAT has reached out to SAPD for updates on possible charges the passengers are facing.

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The CDC reports mistakes in the kitchen can result in serious sicknesses like food poisoning, salmonella, listeria or the norovirus.

Bacteria on your countertops and germs on your hands can be the culprits. So how can you make sure you’re being safe?

The WHO estimates 600 million people, fall ill after eating contaminated food. 420,000 people will die from it.

But you can take some steps to make sure the food you’re serving is safe.

When storing food, refrigerate or freeze groceries within two hours, after that, bacteria start to grow.

Don’t taste food to see if it’s still good. If it’s after the expiration date, throw it out. You can’t taste, see, or even smell all bacteria that causes food poisoning.

Never put cooked foods back on the same plate that once held raw foods. Foodborne pathogens from raw meat can easily spread to ready-to-eat foods.

Never thaw your food on the counter. Foodborne pathogens multiply rapidly when foods are in the danger zone between 40°f and 140°f. Instead, always thaw foods in the refrigerator, cold water or in the microwave. And to avoid that danger zone, don’t cool your cooked foods on the countertop either before putting it in the fridge.

Children under five years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 125,000 deaths every year.

A dispute between adult sisters ended with one person wounded and another person in custody early Tuesday morning, San Antonio police said.

The incident occurred around 2:30 a.m. in the 2300 block of NW Military Highway, not far from Lockhill Selma Road and Phil Hardberger Park.

According to police, the two women in their 40s had an argument and one of them during the altercation cut the other.

The injured woman was taken by EMS to an area hospital, with a non life-threatening wound. She was also to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, police said.

Police said the other sister involved was taken into custody and is now charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Her name has not been released.

The San Antonio Police Department, the San Antonio Fire Department and EMS all answered the call.

SAPD did not say exactly what the argument was about. The investigation is ongoing, police said.

San Antonio police say a man who had been stabbed multiple times showed up to a convenience store north of downtown early Tuesday morning, looking for help.

Officers found him at a 7-Eleven store, located in the 800 block of San Pedro Avenue, after answering a call for help just before 1 a.m.

They say the man told them that he had been stabbed nearby. He did not know the attacker.

The victim was not able to offer police much of a description of the suspect. He said that man was wearing a blue shirt.

Police did not find the stabber.

They say the victim was in serious condition as he left for a hospital in an ambulance.

The stabbing happened in an area of the city that gets a lot of attention from police.

In a previous story about San Pedro Avenue, SAPD told KSAT 12 News that officers had responded to more than 200 calls within that six month period.

I had completely forgotten what the early days of this #WFH adventure were like. Here’s something of a reminder for all of us.

One organization in San San Antonio is helping active drug users get clean by using a different approach.

Harm reduction is a proactive and evidence-based approach to reduce negative personal and public health impacts related with alcohol and other substance use — both at the individual and community levels, according to Corazon San Antonio.

Corazon San Antonio’s harm reduction team incorporates a spectrum of strategies that meet people on their own terms, and can serve as a pathway to additional prevention, treatment, and recovery services.

“They’re actively using already, so we’re not enabling, we’re encouraging them to come and get services,” Del Fin said.

Services includes a needle for needle exchange, to help get dirty needles off the street, in the hopes of reducing infection.

Harm reduction specialist Claudia Del Fin said in her testing of actively using people, 90% are positive for Hepatitis C and 30-40% are positive for HIV.

The program goal is to reduce harm, while also building a connection with those they help. The program makes it easier for individuals to try and get clean when they are ready.

Corazon San Antonio has been doing outreach six days a week for about three months and they say they’ve had a 50% success rate. Not everyone enters into detox, but many have accepted some sort of social service.

Harm reduction is a different way of addressing the public health problem involving substance use, as well as infectious disease and other harms associated with drug use. Specifically, harm reduction services can:

Connect individuals to overdose education, counseling, and referral to treatment for infectious diseases and substance use disorders.Distribute opioid overdose reversal medications to individuals at risk of overdose, or to those who might respond to an overdose.Lessen harms associated with drug use and related behaviors that increase the risk of infectious diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis, and bacterial and fungal infections.Reduce infectious disease transmission among people who use drugs, including those who inject drugs by equipping them with accurate information and facilitating referral to resources.Reduce overdose deaths, promote linkages to care, facilitate co-location of services as part of a comprehensive, integrated approach.Reduce stigma associated with substance use and co-occurring disordersPromote a philosophy of hope and healing by utilizing those with lived experience of recovery in the management of harm reduction services, and connecting those who have expressed interest to treatment, peer support workers and other recovery support services.

We talked to two small business owners to see how they rolled out their own four-day-workweek programs.

Bashrat Hussain, store manager at the convenience store on the corner of Blanco and Mariposa, said he was ringing up customers when he heard the first shots. He rushed to warn his clients to get on the floor.

“We hear some bullet shots and we are all on the floor because bullets are coming in the store,” he said. About five bullet holes could be seen through the wall, many close to where he was standing.

He was sad to hear the news that his regular client and homeowner from across the street was killed by a stray bullet. He remembers the 60-year-old man as someone who always had a smile on his face when he came in for a purchase.

“If I’m going outside for a smoke and he’s outside the house, he’s wave at me. He’s a nice guy. He’s the old, but he’s really calm,” Hussain said.

San Antonio police said the incident began around 2:30 p.m. near the intersection of Blanco Road and West Mariposa Drive when a green Suburban that was circling the gas station with five occupants parked nearby.

Then, someone came up to the car.

“It looked like there was some sort of deal getting ready to go down,” McManus said.

One of the passengers stepped out of the car with a gun in his hand “and the shooting starts,” McManus said.

That person was killed and another passenger was injured by the gunman who had initially approached the SUV, McManus said.

Dozens of family members were outside the home of the shooting, openly grieving the innocent life of the victim shot inside his home while watching T.V.