Matthew (Moose) Lopez
Social Media Editor
A VIDA resident called police last month after he was involved in a gun firefight with a suspected thief.
According to the police report, officers from the San Antonio Police Department made contact with the victim Jeremy Gilbert Guerra who said he had been shot at by two suspects on Mar. 3.
The VIDA neighborhood is a housing development located on South Zarzamora Street, just off highway SE I-410.
The police report states that at about 5:37 p.m. Guerra witnessed two suspects checking door handles for unlocked vehicles. Guerra told police he began following them in his car.
Guerra observed suspect one was checking the vehicle handles while the other trailed behind in their vehicle.
According to the police report, suspect 1 got back into the vehicle once they noticed Guerra was following them, then suspect two pulled a black handgun outside the window and began to shoot at Guerra.
Guerra told police he retaliated with his own firearm before returning to his home and notifying the authorities.
Officers located the suspects’ abandoned vehicle down the street of 10339 Mitra Way, where the incident took place.They then contacted the registered owner of the vehicle at the owners’ home address and informed them their vehicle may have been stolen.
According to the police report, SAPD tried contacting the registered owner to pick up their vehicle after it was processed, but they received no response.
While on the scene officers learned of another burglary victim who lived a few houses down from where the incident took place. They told officers that their vehicle had been burglarized that morning.
Gretchen Howell, senior vice president of SouthStar Communities, VIDA’s management company, told The Mesquite that residents voiced some security concerns within VIDA at the beginning of March.
Howell said SouthStar immediately met with SAPD’s San Antonio Fear Free Environment Unit for suggestions on securing safety within the community. The management group since implemented off-duty officer patrol and are training SAPD on the use of VIDA’s license plate reader cameras, which are located at every community entrance.
SouthStar communicated their efforts to the VIDA residents through the homeowners association. Howell said SouthStar will not release a public statement, because SAPD informed them that public statements “serve to inform criminal actors of our efforts so that they can work around them.”
