Truck Thief Killed After Texas Man Tracks Down Stolen Vehicle And Gunfire Breaks Out

One person is dead, and two others were injured after a shootout broke out between the owner of a stolen truck and the thief that took it. 

On Thursday afternoon, a man accompanied by a woman exited a San Antonio mall to find the man’s Ford truck had been stolen. They located the stolen vehicle not far from where it was parked, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

Inside the truck was a 34-year-old man and his 25-year-old female passenger. The owner ordered the pair out of the vehicle at gunpoint and attempted to hold them until police could arrive. 

The thief pulled out a gun and shot the truck’s owner, who returned the gunfire. The thief was fatally shot and pronounced dead at the scene. The female passenger was critically wounded. 

The vehicle’s owner was taken to the hospital in stable condition. The woman with the truck’s owner was not injured during the shooting, according to NBC News.

SAPD Police Chief William McManus called it a case of self-defense during a press conference. 

“Certainly, a case of self-defense is what we have,” he said. “We would prefer that they call the police before taking that into your own hands, but he did what he felt he needed to do.”

The victim’s brother, Jose Garcia, told KENS5 called the vehicle owner a “vigilante,” adding that now his family is left to grieve. 

“The victim was my brother, and there are two sides to every story,” he said. “Whether my brother was wrong or right, he had a gun pointed at him. I guess he took it upon himself to defend himself.” 

The guy who shot him is a vigilante, not a hero. A vehicle is not worth taking someone’s life. I don’t care what kind of car it is. You don’t take the law into your own hands. Now my mom, my family, we all have to suffer and just deal with it.”