San Antonio police officers shot and killed a man on Sunday after he approached them with two large kitchen knives during what officers described as a possible mental health episode. The shooting is now the subject of a multi-agency review that will determine whether the officers' use of force was justified.
According to KABB, officers responded to the scene and encountered the man mid-crisis before he moved toward them with the knives, prompting officers to open fire. The station reported that the man was experiencing a possible mental health episode at the time, though it did not detail what specifically prompted the initial call or how officers first made contact with him.
A Familiar Pattern in San Antonio Crisis Calls
The shooting fits a pattern local officials have wrestled with for years: standard patrol officers, rather than specialized crisis teams, are often the ones who end up face-to-face with San Antonians in psychiatric distress. San Antonio's Community Outreach and Resiliency Effort, known as SA CORE, pairs an SAPD officer, an SAFD paramedic, and a licensed mental health clinician, and it expanded to round-the-clock citywide coverage in July 2024, according to Texas Public Radio.
Even with that expansion, patrol officers still answer the bulk of local mental health 911 calls, since CORE units are often tied up elsewhere or a call demands an immediate response, per the San Antonio Report. During fiscal year 2025, the CORE program logged 5,567 responses citywide and resulted in only a single arrest, according to city public safety data the outlet cited from January. City officials have said patrol officers remain the default responders whenever CORE teams are assigned elsewhere.
Investigations Now Underway
Following any officer-involved shooting, SAPD protocol requires separate but concurrent investigations by the department's Shooting Team and its Internal Affairs Unit, with findings ultimately forwarded to the Bexar County District Attorney's Office for review. Under the department's general manual, updated in 2022, SAPD is also required to publicly release body-worn camera footage of critical incidents like this one within 30 days, a window the department shortened from its previous 60-day standard.
State law adds another layer of scrutiny. Under Article 2.139 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, law enforcement agencies must file an official report with the Texas Office of the Attorney General within 72 hours of any officer-involved shooting that causes injury or death, detailing officer demographics, weapon use, and the total number of shots fired.
Weighed Against a Painful Local History
This latest shooting arrives against the backdrop of intense local scrutiny over how SAPD handles mental health crises. In November 2025, a Bexar County jury acquitted three former SAPD officers who had been charged with murder and aggravated assault in the June 2023 fatal shooting of Melissa Perez, a woman killed inside her apartment during a mental health episode, according to Texas Public Radio. That case marked the first time multiple on-duty SAPD officers had faced murder charges for a fatal shooting, and Hoodline previously covered the emotional trial testimony as it unfolded.
It isn't the only recent instance of officers confronting someone wielding a blade during a psychiatric crisis. In September 2025, an SAPD officer shot and wounded a 16-year-old boy in South San Antonio after the teenager advanced toward officers with two knives during a mental health call, after a Taser deployment failed to stop him, according to KENS 5. Police command said at the time that officers attempted to back away before firing.
Statewide Context
The shooting also lands within a broader statewide picture of police use of force. In 2022, Texas law enforcement agencies reported 225 separate officer-involved shooting incidents statewide, resulting in 146 deaths and 79 injuries, with 200 of those cases involving individuals carrying a deadly weapon, according to state records from the Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Texas peace officers are required by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement to complete mandatory de-escalation training along with a 40-hour Crisis Intervention Training course, standards intended to help officers manage encounters like Sunday's more safely.
The identity of the man killed Sunday, along with further details of what preceded the confrontation, had not been released as of this writing. The formal SAPD Shooting Team and Internal Affairs reviews, along with the mandated state reporting and bodycam release, are expected to shape what the public eventually learns about the encounter.
