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San Antonio, Texas' top police official turned to social media on Friday and questioned how a repeat offender with a long rap sheet could walk freely and shoot two officers.
At about 5 p.m. Thursday, two San Antonio Police Department officers responded to the area of a wanted suspect who left his apartment complex with a long gun before getting into a vehicle being driven by an unidentified person.
San Antonio Police Department Chief Bill McManus said the suspect, later identified as Jesse Garcia, saw police behind them and started shooting, hitting one of the officers.
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San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said the vehicle owner was trying to "recover his property." (San Antonio Police Department)
The duo then carjacked a different vehicle and fled to another apartment complex before shooting and wounding a second officer multiple times, the chief added.
Garcia barricaded himself in the apartment complex and was eventually taken into custody.
"One of the concerning aspects surrounding the shooting of our [officers] last night…the [suspect] was out on 2 bonds for almost a [year], despite committing more crimes & being re-arrested & wanted on 3 [different] warrants," McManus posted to X the next morning. "Why wasn’t he in jail? Why weren’t his bonds increased? People want to know."
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FOX 29 in San Antonio reported that McManus said he was not pointing fingers at anyone, but just asking "Why?"
The chief told the station that there are three active warrants out for Garcia, calling him a "dangerous, dangerous man."
"The officers were following this individual from 60 yards back and he opened up on them with an AR – and shot one of our officers in the eye," McManus reportedly said.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales’s office did not immediately respond to questions on the matter from Fox News Digital on Saturday.
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Jesse Garcia Jr. booking photo (Bexar County)
FOX 29 spoke with the first assistant of the DA’s office, Christian Henricksen, who said the DA’s office can recommend a bond amount to the judge, but the judge ultimately sets the bond amount based on factors like the severity of the crime and criminal history.
Garcia’s previous charges go back to 2019 and include firearm possession and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
This year, he had two charges, and the warrants for his arrest were for burglary of vehicles and evading arrest.
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San Antonio Police Department vehicle (San Antonio Police Department)
Garcia went to prison in 2019 for felony possession of a firearm, and last year was arrested on drug possession and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
He bonded out of jail and has not yet been indicted on those charges.
The alleged shooter was also arrested in February of this year for burglarizing vehicles and posted bond. He was arrested again in June for felony possession of a firearm and evading arrest, before posting bond once again.
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When asked by the station why the DA’s office did not recommend holding Garcia without bail, Henricksen said it is generally not something judges can do, adding that there are "very limited circumstances" that allow a judge to hold a suspect without bail.
Those circumstances include things like capital murder and domestic violence.
"There’s nothing that we could have done that would have changed the situation," Henricksen told the station. "Ultimately the judges set the bond, not us."
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Henricksen said the DA’s office could have possibly moved a little bit more quickly, which would have gotten the warrant out a couple of weeks earlier.
According to court records, Garcia is being held on $1 million bond for each aggravated assaults against the police officers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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