In a tragic incident, a 29-year-old woman was killed during a police standoff amid a hostage situation in San Antonio, Texas. She was likely fatally shot by law enforcement while she was being rescued, officials said. The standoff happened Monday evening.
During a press conference Wednesday, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said that there was domestic violence involving the victim, Neida Tijerina, and a male named Angel Sanchez, 28. Sanchez was reportedly suicidal and threatened to kill Tijerina, his “common-law wife.” Sanchez has a history of domestic violence, reports said.
When the police came, they found out that Sanchez had body armor and had a shotgun with him. At one point, he even taunted police officers responding at the scene by aiming his weapon at them. The officers tried to negotiate with Sanchez and deescalate the situation, but they were unsuccessful.
Sanchez later exited the apartment during the standoff, and the officers situated on nearby roofs opened fire and struck the man. He dropped his gun and was taken into custody. He has since been charged with three counts of aggravated assault on a public servant.
However, when they went inside the apartment, they found Tijerina dead from a gunshot wound. There is no confirmation yet that Tijerina died from the shooting by the officers, but the police chief said, “the physical evidence appears to support that conclusion.” A medical examiner will determine that, and an investigation by the department will continue.
Tijerina reportedly did not want to leave the apartment because they had young children living with them. She did not want to leave them behind. The children are aged 13, 11, 5, and three months old.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help the children she left behind financially. The post stated: “Words can’t describe the pain our family is going through. We lost our very loved and caring person in a tragic way! It never crossed our mind that we would be going [through] this heart break and needing to ask for financial assistance from our family and friends. Neida was the most humble and caring person!”
