Texas -(Ammoland.com)- At about 9:30 p.m., at the All Stars Gentlemen’s Club parking lot in San Antonio, Texas, a barber and a police officer got into a gunfight. Both were seriously wounded. A female witness was wounded with a bullet crease to her head.
The police reported the incident was caused by road rage. That seems to be correct. The barber was cut off by the police officer. They both pulled into the parking lot. They both got out of their vehicles. Then the gunfight happened.
Initially, the story from the police was the barber opened up on the police officer, who was shot six times, but managed to crawl back to his vehicle, obtain a firearm, and return fire, wounding the barber and the witness. The barber and the officer both ended up in the hospital, and both survived. From foxsanantonio.com:
UPDATE: Investigators say the off-duty officer, the suspect and the injured passenger are expected to survive, although the officer remained in critical condition. They are all being treated at University Hospital. The officer and the suspect underwent surgery early Wednesday morning.
There was more to the case. The barber, Demontae Walker, was from Chicago and had opened a barbershop in San Antonio. He had no criminal history. His father’s name is Desmond. From mysanantonio.com:
Desmond Walker, a 47-year-old machine operator in west Chicago, is left trying to reconcile the police department’s account of his son’s actions and his own knowledge of his son.
“He just got married. Just had a baby and got a house. He opened up a barber shop in his brother’s name. That’s who he was,” Desmond said. “That doesn’t fit the profile of a maniac or a habitual criminal.”
As the police investigated the incident, they found the police officer was drunk at the time of the gunfight. He was disciplined, removed from his police academy position, and suspended without pay for 15 days. From ksat.com:
Rios was cited for his profanity-laced exchange with Walker and because he had consumed alcohol to a point where he was “rendered unfit to report for duty,” according to the suspension order. Off-duty officers are prohibited from drinking to an extent that renders them unfit to report for duty.
The case was referred to a grand jury in Bexar County. On 14 December 2018, the grand jury refused to indict. From foxsanantonio.com:
“After considering the evidence presented against Demontae Walker, the grand jury did not return a true bill of indictment for any criminal charges,” the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office said in an email Friday.
Walker’s attorney says Demontae Walker never changed his account of what happened. Walker says he got out of the car to attempt to calm the off-duty officer. In Walker’s account, the officer, Rios, pulled his gun first. Walker shot Rios in the legs, then immediately went to his (Walker’s) car and called 911. It is undisputed that while Walker was calling 911, he and the witness were shot by Officer Rios through the car’s closed window.
The physical evidence supported Walker’s story. Rios said he shot through the window because he was afraid Walker was reloading. Testimony showed Rios had five mixed drinks immediately before driving to the strip club and getting into the altercation with Walker. Walker was driving to the strip club to drop off his wife’s cousin, (the wounded witness) who worked there.
Demontae Walker is paralyzed from the waist down. He has a 9-month-old baby and a young wife. He can no longer support them. From ksat.com:
“My client’s life is ruined,” Adams said. “He cannot perform his job anymore. He’s got a 9-month-old, married, he cannot support either of them. It was a horrible event.”
Currently, Walker and his family are living with a relative outside of San Antonio, as he is no longer able to support himself.
Although Walker’s life has drastically changed because of the shooting, Adams said Walker has not brought up filing a civil lawsuit.
The story reminds me of grand jury verdicts in the Old West when two men got into a shootout. Very often, juries would return a verdict of not guilty, by reason of self-defense. Very often, alcohol was involved. In this case, as often happens in gunfights, both parties were seriously wounded. People should avoid gunfights if they can. Maybe Demontae Walker could have avoided this fight. It is not clear. He had a legitimate reason to be where he was. He had his wife’s cousin to worry about.
It appears alcohol clouded the officer’s judgment. Officer Rios could almost certainly have avoided the gunfight. Officer Rios was almost killed but had a complete recovery. His career is in doubt.
According to ksat.com, the district attorney has not made a decision as to whether to bring Officer Rios before a grand jury.
Demontae Walker could legally have a pistol in his car in Texas. He was in the process of obtaining his concealed handgun license when the gunfight took place.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
on the local news 1st thing this morn (Atlanta) cops responded to a domestic dispute , upon arrival one cop (accidentally?) shoots another cop ! and these are the people you are gonna call when you need help? god help us all!
While I agree that it’s wrong and he should be in jail (IF THIS IS THE WHOLE STORY) the issue I have with y’all and your comments are the blame. Non law enforcement grand jury failed to charge him. That means regular folks like y’all didn’t do what was needed. So if you doubt that regular people got it wrong then that means this isn’t the right story. So which is it? Is this story a lie or did regular people let a criminal go?
The barber didn’t even know he was fighting a cop but he did and now he pays the price. Except, a drunk with a gun is not legal anyplace, I don’t think. It doesn’t mean anything if the guy was a cop, he was drunk and in possession before anything else. If I was the barber I would be looking for the best lawyer available for this type of crime. Hang the bad cop and police department, maybe someone else will think twice.
Did the hospital take a BAC test when they admitted the copper? Or of the civilian? If that copper was as drunk as appears, he needs to have a felony DUI charge brought. Furhter, his resort straightaway to his handgun is, to be kind, VERY suspect. Seems he got a little too much in his cups, drove like it, then tried to settle the score with a lethal weapon. This guy IS unfit for “service” as a LEO. Can him, charge him. With a felony DUI he’s done as a copper anyway, as he can’t have guns any more. His… Read more »
If Rios was not a cop he would already be in jail. If the police want the public to respect them they need to stop giving passes to their brothers.
As far as the lawsuit, is the police dept or city responsible?
On the other hand, they should not be thrown under the bus to satisfy the mob.
Rios got intoxicated, then illegally drove a vehicle, drove recklessly, pursued and then assaulted an innocent other driver, used a deadly weapon (and HE was the initiator of the altercation), and then committed mayhem (he permanently maimed the victim). How many crimes, including felonies, is that? 4, 5? And he got suspended for 2 weeks! Oh yeah, THAT makes it all OK – justice was served, right? Rios should be doing hard time in our state pen. We aren’t talking about a civil suit, or paying damages here. Rios committed multiple serious crimes. Who cares if his career is in… Read more »
Grace for the cops and law for everyone else? Just another event showing that there are some people who are above the law. Hillary, Bill, the feds, the cops, congress, governors, judges, the swamp etc. The cop should be in jail, loose his job, pay the man’s bills the rest of his life etc. Drunk on duty, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder and the grand jury said NO? Wow, what does the average man get if he did such a thing? I doubt it would be a PASS. Civil disobedience may still work–maybe. Vote. Pray. Arm up, carry… Read more »
Alcohol and firearms do not mix well. This is one incident that needs to and should go to the courts to be settled in a fair and just way.
While I wholeheartedly support law enforcement, according to this evidence, at least, the officer was at fault. 99% of cops are good, responsible people trying to do a difficult job for way less pay than they deserve. This guy, Rios, was simply a bad cop. There are bad accountants, bad machinists, bad doctors, heck, there are even bad barbers (though the victim certainly doesn’t seem to be one). This is a tragic result for the young father and yes, the officer must be prosecuted. I wish the young man and his family the best.
My uncle’s were good cops but a lot of other cops went to prison for murder, trafficking, extortion, i could go on for hours telling true stories about crooked cops but i wont. I’ll just say that a uniform and badge don’t make you a good person. No man is better or worse than another Man because of his occupation. We need to glorify God not ourselfs.