Three months have passed since the altercation at a Northside ISD hosted football game that resulted in an officer-involved shooting, and yet, local authorities are holding their cards close to the vest when it comes to disclosing identities and details about the case, a report shows. On a quiet October afternoon, things took a turn at the Dub Farris Athletic Complex when, according to Northside ISD, a woman in her parked vehicle became confrontational and allegedly drove toward a district officer in what was described as a threatening manner, leading the officer to discharge a single bullet into her arm, as reported by KSAT 12.
Barry Perez, the NISD assistant superintendent of communications, touted that the incident, which occurred before the 2 p.m. kickoff between Sotomayor and O'Connor high schools, put neither students nor onlookers at risk stating "At no time were any students or adults at the event in danger," however, families leaving the game mentioned they had been blissfully unaware of any shooting taking place, details of which were picked up by Express News. In the aftermath, the yet unnamed officer in question was relegated to administrative duties while the San Antonio Police Department spearheaded the ongoing investigation, a probe that has still not yielded a full public accounting or charges.
The lack of forthcoming information has only served to intensify public scrutiny. Despite more than a dozen attempts by KSAT 12 to prise out the names of those involved, both SAPD and NISD have steadfastly denied these requests, citing the "active" status of the case. Perez, doubling down on the silence, echoed the propensity of the district to play their investigation strategies close to the chest, insisting in an email that withholding the names was normal procedure "given that this is still an active case."
Now, as SAPD signals the imminent end of their inquiry and its subsequent transfer to the District Attorney's Office, questions linger regarding NISD's crisis communication strategies, or the apparent lack thereof at the time of the shooting, KSAT 12 delved into the district's post-incident assessment and was met with explanations that all pointed toward standard protocol and "an isolated" incident that didn't warrant real-time announcements or explicit communication to either campus involved in the event, Perez said in an email, “In this specific instance, we also discussed any benefit to each campus sending communication,” he added, evidently satisfied that due process had been followed, despite leaving many families in the dark.
