A San Antonio rookie cop who fired his gun and wounded a 17-year-old boy eating a hamburger in his car has been fired and arrested, charged with two counts of aggravated assault.
James Brennand, now an ex-San Antonio police officer, was fired after shooting 17-year-old Erik Cantu in a McDonald’s parking lot on October 2. Police training commander Alyssa Campos announced the news via a video statement.
The teenager’s lawyer, Brian Powers, said that his client was hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds and that he is fighting to survive.
The rookie cop had been responding to another distress call in the fast-food chain unrelated to Erik Cantu when he saw the teenager inside the car. Authorities released the cop’s body cam footage, and viewers can hear Officer Brennand saying that Cantu’s vehicle had fled from him the day before.
In her video, training commander Campos said that Officer Brennand had been trying to talk to witnesses at the McDonald’s when he spotted Cantu’s car that had eluded him the previous day. She said that on October 1, Brennand had tried to stop the vehicle Cantu was driving because its license plate and the vehicle did not match, but the driver refused to stop and sped away.
According to Campos, Brennand thought that the car might have been stolen. However, authorities did not release information about the owners of the vehicle.
Campos said that Brennand abruptly opened the driver’s door and immediately ordered the driver to get out. His actions were contrary to police protocols, as he should have waited for the backup officers he had requested to arrive.
Officer Brennand’s body cam footage clearly showed the officer approaching the teenager’s car, and without knocking, he immediately opened the driver’s door and “shouted get out of the car.” A seemingly shocked and confused teenager, Erik Cantu, who was eating a hamburger with a mouthful of food, asked the officer what he had said.
Cantu, who then panicked, started to reverse the car while Officer Brennand tried to reach into the car and grab him with no success. Cantu backed out of the parking lot as Brennand took out his gun and started shooting at the teenager. As the teenager pulled out of the McDonald’s parking lot, Brennand continued to shoot multiple times at the vehicle.
Police found Cantu’s car nearby, with the teenager and a 17-year-old girl inside the car. Several bullets had hit Cantu, and the police rushed him to a nearby hospital.
According to Campos, officer Brennand had only been on the force for a year before the incident and violated the police department’s procedures, tactics, and training when he approached the car.
Joe Gonzales, Bexar County District Attorney, said there was not enough evidence to charge the teenager, Cantu, who had been initially charged with aggravated assault and eluding law enforcement.
Some civil rights advocates took to social media to condemn the officer for shooting Cantu without reasonable cause. One civil rights lawyer tweeted that the officer opened the car, ordered Cantu to get out, and then proceeded to shoot him without ever stating a reason.
On Tuesday, October 11, Brennand was charged with two counts of aggravated assault by a police official.
“He is in custody,” Police Chief William McManus said in reference to the officer, who surrendered to police after a warrant was issued on Tuesday. He said the victim, Cantu, is on life support, and in the sad event he doesn’t pull through, the charges will be upgraded.