2 dead after BCSO deputy-involved shooting, manhunt through San Antonio suburb

Four deputies exchanged gunfire with a female suspect who was fatally shot at a trailer park near Pecan Grove. Four deputies exchanged gunfire with a female suspect who was fatally shot at a trailer park near Pecan Grove. Photo: Fares Sabawi Photo: Fares Sabawi Image 1 of / 48 Caption Close 2 dead after BCSO deputy-involved shooting, manhunt through San Antonio suburb 1 / 48 Back to Gallery

Editors note: The Bexar County Sheriff's Office initially gave the child's age as 7 years old. He is actually 6, officials said.

A 6-year-old boy was fatally shot when Bexar County sheriff's deputies opened fire on a woman at a Schertz mobile home park after a lengthy manhunt Thursday.

The woman — a wanted felon and a suspect in a car theft — also was killed by the gunfire at the Pecan Grove Manufactured Home Community, located off FM 78 on the banks of Cibolo Creek.

She had been trying to break into a mobile home while the child was inside when deputies caught up to her on the front porch.

READ MORE: 6-year-old boy killed after deputies opened fire in Schertz identified

The woman, whose name has not been released, had no apparent connection to the child or the family inside that mobile home in the 100 block of Peach Lane, Sheriff Javier Salazar said.

It was not known what prompted four uniformed deputies to shoot during their final confrontation with the woman, Salazar said. At least one round penetrated the wall of the mobile home and struck the boy in the torso, the sheriff reported.

That child, whose name also was not released, later was pronounced dead at University Hospital.

The child, a student at Wiederstein Elementary School in Cibolo, was inside the home with two family members, who were not injured.

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Investigators did not find a gun in the slain woman's possession after she was killed, but she had pointed a firearm at a deputy who found her hiding in a closet at a home earlier in the day, Salazar said. While running away, the woman also pointed a gun at least once directly at a deputy who was chasing her, the sheriff noted.

Investigators were continuing to search for that gun.

The shootings followed a nearly two-hour manhunt that unfolded for some distance on the Bexar County-Guadalupe County line, at one point crossing the chin-deep waters of Cibolo Creek, which the woman swam across while trying to get away from deputies. That prompted one K9 officer to discard his body armor and swim after her while carrying his dog, Salazar said.

The incident began at 10:48 a.m. when a man reported a woman had stolen his car. The caller said he knew who the woman was and where they could find her. Deputies were informed she was armed, Salazar said.

Deputies eventually found her hiding in a closet at a house in the 11200 block of FM 1518, at which point she showed a gun and threatened to shoot a deputy, Salazar said.

The woman then bolted from the home and ran away, going down a ravine and crossing a creek before disappearing into a wooded area. The Sheriff's Office called other police agencies for backup.

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During a 90-minute search of the wooded area, tracking dogs picked up and lost the woman's scent several times.

The woman eventually ran to the mobile home park, where two residents who crossed her path reported that she physically threatened them, Salazar said. The pilot of a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter circling overhead also reported the woman reached for her waistband several times, indicating she may be armed, the sheriff said.

The pilot watched as the woman tried breaking into several mobile homes in the area. She then made her way to the child's home, where deputies closed in on her.

Salazar said he did not know specifically what prompted the four deputies to open fire.

"I haven't personally interviewed the deputies — I don't know what they saw," he said.

Salazar said Sheriff's Office policy allows deputies to use deadly force against a person presenting a threat to them or to another person. He would not address whether that policy changes if a family home is in the line of fire.

The four deputies who fired their handguns and at least one rifle have a range of experience with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, from two years to 27 years, he said.

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Though deputies weren't injured, the sheriff said they were "pretty shaken up" after the shooting and he hugged each of them.

On Thursday, some residents stood outside their trailers and watched deputies work the crime scene.

Rhonda Campbell, 58, was in her bed watching TV when she heard a loud boom. The woman eluding police had forced open her front door, breaking the door hinge into splinters.

Anthony Fritcher, 33, was closing the back door when the front door was flung open and the wanted woman walked in, demanding the keys to a Kia Soul parked in the driveway.

Fritcher, along with Campbell and her husband, all charged toward the woman, who then ran off the porch and curved around the yard and out of sight.

Valerie Mills, 58, another resident of the mobile home park, walked outside her home on Oak Bloom after hearing helicopters in the area. At that point, a woman approached her.

"She ran towards me, asking for help, waving her arms at me," Mills said.

"She was about 20 feet away from me. I just turned around and walked off."

Students at the child's school had been released early Thursday, at noon, for Christmas break.

Staff Writers Alexandro Luna and Lauren Caruba contributed to this report. | Peggy O'Hare is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | pohare@express-news.net | @Peggy_OHare

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