The car that Erik Cantu was driving when he was shot by a police officer in a McDonald’s parking lot was not stolen, investigators have confirmed.
The confirmation by the San Antonio Police Department came nearly two weeks after 17-year-old Erik was shot by officer James Brennard, who has since been fired, as he sat in his car eating a burger on 2 October.
Speculation about the car arose after Mr Brennard, who had responded to the scene in regards to an unrelated incident, said he noticed the teen in a vehicle he had seen the day before and which did not have a matching licence plate. The officer could be heard on bodycam footage saying, “I got a vehicle here that fled from me the other day,” before approaching Erik.
“We can confirm that the license plates did not belong to the vehicle Cantu was operating, but again, the vehicle was not stolen. Due to the ongoing investigation, this is all we can provide,” the SAPD Public Information Office confirmed to The Independent in a statement.
In the aftermath of the shooting, SAPD fired and arrested Mr Brennard, 27, who was later released on $200,000 bail, court records show. He faces two felony counts of aggravated assault by a public servant and charges could be upgraded in the event that Erik succumbs to his injuries.
Meanwhile, the teen’s family has denied reports by SAPD that his condition is stable, stating that as of Wednesday, he was still unconscious and on life support. The Independent has reached out to the family’s attorney for an update on Erik’s condition.
“We’d like to correct any misrepresentations that Erik is in ‘stable condition’ or he is ‘going to be fine,” the family attorney, Brian Powers, told The Associated Press. “That is not true. Every breath is a struggle for Erik. We ask for everyone’s continued prayers for our son.”
Mr Brennard’s bodycam footage of the incident shows the teenager eating a burger and a 17-year-old girl sitting in the passenger seat as Mr Brennand instructed the pair to get out of the car. Erik was then ordered to exit his vehicle in the McDonald’s parking lot.
He began to back up with the car door still open, which San Antonio Police Captain Alyssa Campos said hit the officer, who fired several times, striking the teenager. The teen was taken to a hospital after he was stopped by officers at a separate location.
Erik initially faced charges for evading detention in a vehicle and for assaulting a police officer, but the Bexar County criminal district attorney, Joe Gonzales, later announced they had been dropped.
According to police, Mr Brennand was a newly trained officer still on probation when he shot Erik after attempting to gather information from witnesses in a parking lot about an unrelated disturbance.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told WOAI that Mr Brennand should not have opened fire and said: “There is nothing I can say in defence of that officer’s actions that night. I think what happened, initially, there was some contact made, but that did not justify the shooting.”
Mr McManus, speaking about the officer’s bodycam video, also told the media: “The video was horrific. There is no question in anybody’s mind looking at that video that the shooting is not justified.”
However, the department largely defended its training during the press conference.
