Masked Teens Open Fire Near San Antonio Home After Highlands High School Fight

A fight between two students at Highlands High School spiraled into gunfire outside a San Antonio home Monday, after masked teens pulled up in a vehicle and opened fire on a residence in the 100 block of Drew Avenue, leaving a car and a trash can riddled with bullets but no one physically hurt. San Antonio police were dispatched around 11:45 a.m., and the suspects remain unlocated as investigators piece together how a campus altercation turned into an armed confrontation less than 15 minutes away.

According to KENS 5, San Antonio Police Sgt. Rodriguez said the conflict started with a physical altercation at the high school before four students allegedly sent threatening video messages showing weapons and warning they would shoot at the target residence. The victim, a 39-year-old woman, told police her nephew had been the one involved in the school fight. She said she heard multiple gunshots as the masked suspects pulled up, got out, and fired at the home while her aunt stood on the front porch.

Police confirmed no one was struck by gunfire, though a vehicle and a trash can outside the residence were hit, per the same account relayed by KENS 5. It remains unclear whether the four teens involved are students at Highlands High School, and their identities had not been released as of Monday afternoon. As reported in the seed coverage from KABB, a 17-year-old male suspect had separately sent a video threatening to shoot up the victim's residence, though it was not specified whether that suspect was among those who arrived at the home.

Campus Placed on Secure Protocol, Not Lockdown

San Antonio Independent School District implemented what officials call a secure protocol at Highlands High School as a precaution once the shooting was reported, according to KABB's reporting. Under that measure, students and staff remained safely inside and classes continued operating normally, with any students found outside brought back into the building and the campus perimeter secured by personnel. Individuals were permitted to enter only if designated by the principal, and the school was explicitly not placed in a lockdown.

The distinction matters for parents trying to gauge the severity of a threat. Per the Texas School Safety Center, a secure protocol directs staff to get inside and lock outside doors, securing a building's perimeter against a nearby off-campus threat while regular instruction continues inside — a markedly different response than a lockdown, which is reserved for an active threat inside the building itself. That framework is part of the statewide Standard Response Protocol guidelines that Texas districts are expected to follow.

Charges Under Investigation as Suspects Remain at Large

San Antonio police confirmed that aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is among the primary charges facing the suspects under investigation, KENS 5 reported. Under Texas Penal Code § 22.02, assaulting someone while displaying or using a deadly weapon — including firing a weapon toward an occupied residence — is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in state prison and fines up to $10,000, even when no one is physically injured, according to legal analysis published by Varghese Summersett. No arrests had been announced as of the incident report.

Part of a Broader Push to Harden San Antonio Campuses

The shooting lands amid a stretch of youth-involved gun violence across San Antonio this month, including an August 13 shooting on Blanco Road that left a juvenile hospitalized, as reported by KSAT. It also comes as Texas districts work to comply with House Bill 3, the 2023 law requiring at least one armed security officer or commissioned peace officer at every public school campus during school hours, per Texas Legislature Online records. More than half of Texas school districts were still unable to fully meet that staffing requirement as of early 2025 due to funding shortfalls and law enforcement shortages, according to reporting cited by the Texas Tribune.

Locally, San Antonio ISD has been rolling out its own physical security upgrades, including single-entry visitor vestibules at campuses like Kate Schenck Elementary to meet post-Uvalde building requirements. The district has also mandated clear backpacks at select high schools, including Jefferson, Lanier, and Burbank, as part of efforts to keep concealed weapons off campus. Highlands High School has faced safety scares before, including a 2024 incident in which a bullet was found on campus, prompting a lockdown and reassurances from the district at the time.

The investigation into Monday's shooting remains open, and police have not said when charges might be filed or when the suspects might be identified. For now, the case adds to a growing pattern in which disputes that begin at school are following students home — sometimes with guns.