A 35-year-old man who once worked as a Bexar County deputy constable is now sitting in a Mexican prison, accused of gunning down three people at a home in Saltillo, Coahuila, and critically wounding his former partner during what authorities describe as a custody dispute over his 3-year-old son. Chad Eberle was arrested at the international bridge in Piedras Negras, just across from Eagle Pass, as he allegedly tried to flee back into Texas with the boy.
The shooting happened on August 4 at a home in Saltillo, according to News 4 San Antonio, which cited La Razón and local reports. Mexican outlet El Mañana pinpointed the location as a residence on José Espinoza Fuentes street in the city's Antonio Cárdenas neighborhood, roughly 200 miles south of the Texas border. Coahuila Attorney General Federico Fernández said a judicial authority issued an arrest warrant for the man identified as Chad N, and that it was executed immediately.
Victims Identified as Family of Eberle's Former Partner
Local outlet Periódico La Voz identified the three people killed as Ana Laura de León Morín, 44; her daughter, Laura Jaquelín Mora de León, 22; and her partner, Emanuel Montero Gómez, 44. Eberle's former partner, Litzy Anahí Mora de León, 26, remained in critical condition at IMSS Clinic 2 in Saltillo with a gunshot wound to the head, per the same outlet's reporting. News 4 San Antonio reported that the mother of Eberle's child was left critically wounded and that he is accused of critically wounding his former partner, while the violence erupted during a custody dispute over the couple's 3-year-old son.
Mexican news outlet Milenio reported that Coahuila investigators identified domestic violence as the core motive, noting that Eberle had a pre-existing U.S. domestic violence restraining order barring him from approaching his former partner and child. According to that account, the shooting occurred after Eberle showed up unannounced at the family home to take his son without permission.
Chased to the Border and Caught at the Bridge
Security cameras tracked Eberle fleeing Saltillo in a gray Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, according to El Mañana's reporting, triggering a joint interception operation involving Coahuila state police, the Mexican Navy, Army, National Guard, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection at International Bridge II in Piedras Negras. He was arrested while trying to cross into Texas, and News 4 San Antonio reported that Coahuila prosecutors planned to transfer him to Saltillo for placement at the disposal of the control judge. Coahuila state prosecutors confirmed he was formally processed into the Saltillo Men's Penitentiary at 9:59 p.m. on August 5, where he remains held under a local control judge's authority, per Periódico La Voz.
The arrest warrant charges Chad N with probable responsibility for femicide, attempted femicide, and qualified homicide, Fernández said, according to Milenio's reporting, which was also cited by KSAT. Femicide is defined under Mexican state law as an intentional killing motivated by gender, and it carries statutory penalties and prosecution protocols that don't exist under U.S. federal criminal code. The allegations remain pending in Mexico's court system.
A Trail of Texas Law Enforcement Jobs
Eberle previously worked as a police officer in Texas, with a record spanning multiple small and mid-sized departments. He served with Bexar County Constable Precinct 2 in 2019 and 2020, with Northside ISD's police department from 2017 to 2019, and briefly with the Somerset Police Department for about four months in 2017. He later worked with the Lockney Police Department in Floyd County from 2022 to 2023, where he was publicly introduced as a reserve officer tasked with patrol duties, according to Periódico La Voz.
According to Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records cited by KSAT, Eberle was actively employed as an officer with the Bangs Police Department in Brown County at the time of the shootings and his arrest in Mexico — meaning he apparently held active law enforcement status in Texas even as he faced accusations in Saltillo. TCOLE records also list military service in Eberle's training records, and he is described as an Army veteran.
Foreclosure Notice Filed for Same Day as Shooting
Separate from the criminal case, Bexar County Clerk records published in early July show a substitute trustee foreclosure sale was scheduled for August 4 — the same date as the Saltillo shootings — for a San Antonio home on Nube Medina owned by Chad Eberle and Christine Eberle. The dossier does not indicate any confirmed connection between the foreclosure proceeding and the violence in Saltillo, and no source has drawn that link directly.
Child Now in Mexican State Custody
Eberle is accused of fleeing with his 3-year-old son during the escape attempt. Following his arrest, Coahuila's state child protection agency, Procuraduría para Niños, Niñas y la Familia, known as PRONNIF, took formal protective custody of the uninjured boy in Saltillo while coordinating with the U.S. Consular Office, according to Milenio. Fernández said the child is under PRONNIF custody to guarantee comprehensive protection of his rights, and that communication has been maintained with the U.S. consular office. PRONNIF is Coahuila's primary agency responsible for safeguarding minors involved in domestic violence cases, and it now provides protective custody and care for the boy, who remains in Saltillo.
Key questions remain open, including the legal status of Eberle's custody rights over his son, how he ultimately crossed into Mexico before the shooting, and the origin of the firearm used in the attack. It's also unclear whether U.S. authorities will seek any role in the case or defer entirely to Coahuila's legal system, where the femicide and homicide charges against him carry severe statutory sentences.
