A video obtained by a San Antonio TV station seems to show Texas sheriff’s deputies shooting a man with his hands in the air. Authorities say that Gilbert Flores, 41, had resisted arrest and that efforts to subdue him with non-lethal weapons had failed.
The two Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies were responding to a domestic disturbance on Friday night. According to a statement released by the Sheriff’s office, they found a woman bleeding from a cut on her head and an injured baby. When deputies attempted to arrest Flores, he resisted, and was shot.
But a video taken by a bystander and published online by KSAT on Monday appears to show Flores standing still with his hands up before the officers fire their weapons. Neither the deputies nor Flores can be heard in the video, and the view is partially blocked by a pole and moving traffic.
The deputies, identified as Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanche, have been placed on standard administrative leave while the department investigates the incident. Both have worked in the department for over 10 years.
“Certainly what’s in the video is a cause for concern, but it’s important to let the investigation go through its course so that we can assure a thorough and complete review of all that occurred,” Sheriff Susan Pamerleau said at a news conference Friday.
The Bear County Sheriff’s office lashed out at the television station, writing on Facebook that the release of the video had resulted in threats to the officers, who have not been charged with a crime. The office posted the local TV station KSAT’s phone number to Facebook, writing “let the local media know this sort of sensational behavior doesn’t fly in Bexar County.”
The Bear County Sherriff’s office did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Go Inside the Lives of Families Affected by Gun Violence
Family members gather around Albert Vaughn’s coffin to say goodbye. “Lil Al” was beaten to death with a baseball bat by Nathaniel Tucker. The conflict began when Vaughn, 18, confronted Tucker’s cousin, who had gotten into an argument with Vaughn’s younger brother. Englewood, Chicago, 2008.Carlos Javier OrtizIn Memory of Nugget. Seven years after the death of Siretha White, her family celebrates her birthday. She would have been 18 years old that March. Siretha’s family never got to cut the cake at her 11th birthday party, the day she was killed. Englewood, Chicago, 2013.
Side caption: Siretha White’s cake, on what would have been her 18th birthday.Carlos Javier OrtizThe Bud Billiken parade, the oldest African-American parade in the country, kicks off the new school year and celebrates black life in Chicago. Washington Park, Chicago, 2013.Carlos Javier OrtizAlex Arellano, 15, was shot and burned after being hit with bats and then struck by a car that was chasing him. Gage Park, Chicago, 2009.
Side caption: Burn marks in the gangway where 15-year-old Alex Arellano was murdered.Carlos Javier OrtizGirls in the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side attend a block party to celebrate the lives of Starkeisha Reed, 14, and Siretha White, 10. Starkeisha and Siretha were killed days apart in March 2006. The girls’ mothers were friends, and both grew up on Honore Street, where the celebration took place. Englewood, Chicago, 2008.Carlos Javier OrtizA view of the historic Oak Woods Cemetery on Chicago’s South Side. Oak Woods Cemetery is the final resting place of many of the young people who are victims of violence in Chicago. Joseph Briggs was one of eight people killed in a weekend of shootings that left more than 40 people wounded. Briggs, who turned 16 in April 2012, was shot in the head during a drive-by shooting while he was sitting on his front porch. Greater Grand Crossing, Chicago, 2012.Carlos Javier OrtizThe mother of Fakhur Uddin, a 20-year old college student who was bound with duct tape and shot in the back of the head inside his family’s Philadelphia store, collapses to the ground and weeps as police investigate the scene. Germantown, Philadelphia, 2008.Carlos Javier OrtizAngry community members, business owners and church pastors marched through Chicago’s South Side to protest the overwhelming numbers of murders that took place in October of that year. Greater Grand Crossing, Chicago, 2009.Carlos Javier OrtizRapper Young DBoy Low and his friends shoot a video with the help of Project Spitfire, a nonprofit that uses music to help young people break free of the vicious cycle of gangs, drugs and violence. The group pairs young musicians with professional producers who help them record songs and videos. Bronzeville, Chicago, 2011.
Side caption: Rapper Young DBoy Low shoots a video with Project Spitfire, a non-profit that uses music to help young people break the cycle of violence. Gun imagery permeates the imagination on a video shoot.Carlos Javier OrtizBoys play in an empty lot where homes once stood. Today, all that remains are trees and broken glass surrounded by abandoned homes. Englewood, Chicago, 2007.Carlos Javier OrtizKids jump off a trampoline during a block party. Auburn Gresham, Chicago, 2013.Carlos Javier OrtizArthur Burgess, 19, of the 500 block of East 32nd Street, was shot on a cold winter night and died at the scene. His friend was shot twice but survived. Englewood, Chicago, 2009.Carlos Javier OrtizAlbert Vaughn was the neighborhood guardian, the older teenager who would play ball with the younger kids and try to keep them safe from trouble. About 50 of his friends and family members gathered to remember “Lil Al” on the block where he was killed. Englewood, Chicago, 2008.Carlos Javier OrtizMembers of St. Sabina Church in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood pray to end violence in Chicago. More than 40 young people have been murdered in the neighborhood since 2006. Auburn Gresham, Chicago, 2013.Carlos Javier OrtizChicago’s lakefront is a frequent hang-out for youth during the summer months, but many young people have never been outside of their neighborhoods,
let alone to the beaches along the lake. Near South Side, Chicago, 2006.Carlos Javier OrtizVictims of violence are often memorialized with T-shirts made by their friends and relatives. This is a photograph of a victim for use in his memorial T-shirt. Lawndale, Chicago, 2008.Carlos Javier Ortiz
