Man shot after pulling BB gun dies

SAN ANTONIO — A man critically wounded when he tried to pull a BB gun during an argument was pronounced dead in the early-morning hours of New Year's Day.

According to an SAPD report, Ray Anthony Cantu, 28, died at 2:20 a.m. Jan. 1 after being shot in the leg in the 400 block of Emilie Street around 1:15 a.m.

Cantu had been involved in a disturbance on Sussex Avenue on the city's South Side earlier in the night, police said. He walked to apartments in the 400 block of Emilie Street, where he got into another argument with a man who lived at the location identified as Angel Valdez, while inside his residence. Police said Cantu at times had been known to stay at the location.

Officers said Valdez, whose wife and young child were home at the time of the shooting, punched Cantu in the face and kicked him in an attempt to get Cantu out of the apartment.

After being kicked, Cantu tried to pull a weapon.

It was later revealed that Cantu was trying to pull a BB gun, but the man inside the apartment pulled a real handgun, and shot him in the leg.

Police said the wound may have hit an artery in the man's leg.

Police at the scene said Valdez had no way of knowing the weapon was not real, and is not expected to face charges.

mdwilson@express-news.net

Twitter: @MDWilsonSA