“It scares me” | Neighbors speak out after child was injured in shootout that could be gang-linked

SAN ANTONIO. Gangs attack teenagers and threaten public safety in San Antonio’s largest residential complex.

On Sunday, police responded to the shooting at Alazan Apache Court. It happened shortly before 17:00. According to investigators, witnesses saw a white sedan drive up to the residential complex. The two men reportedly got out and started arguing with people in the compound. That’s when things got violent, police said, and the two groups exchanged gunfire.

According to police, the 18-year-old girl was shot in the chest. A 13-year-old girl was caught in the crossfire at a nearby playground. Police say she was shot in the leg but is in stable condition.

“There are too many young children here involved in this crossfire where they are not even connected to gangs,” said the woman, who asked us to keep her identity because she fears retribution.

She told KENS 5 that her children were approached by young gang members.

“They call the kids to the cars and ask them, ‘Do you know so-and-so?’,” the woman said.

The mother believes that the teenagers are trying to “prove” themselves by getting into fights with other suspected gang members.

Neighbors say they shoot all the time. Stay bullets often hit cars and apartments. One bullet hit a house just a few feet from where the children were sleeping.

Another woman says Alazán-Apache Courts needs more light. She would like to see regular police patrols and more community centers.

Most of all, she says, parents need to step up.

“It all starts at home,” said the second woman. “If you are not involved in your children’s lives, they will look outside to become their family.”

At a public safety meeting Monday, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said officers go to “high crime” areas and sit in patrol cars with flashing lights. He says officers are focused on apartment buildings, which seem to be a magnet for this kind of activity.

“The UTSA criminologist who came up with this plan thinks it’s based on facts,” McManus said. “It has proven effective in other cities where it has been implemented.”

However, McManus says calls to duty take precedence over patrols. He says a personnel study is underway to see if more officers are needed to deal with violent crime.