A man in his 50s was shot in the leg early Wednesday morning inside a South Side San Antonio bar, and the gunman fled on foot before officers tracked down a person of interest just a few blocks away. The victim was rushed to a hospital and is expected to survive.
The shooting happened shortly before 1 a.m. at Weritas Cantina near Nogalitos Street and Keats Avenue, according to WOAI News 4. Police said the man was shot inside the bar and that the shooter ran off immediately afterward. He was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center in stable condition, and he is expected to recover.
A separate report placed the shooting at a bar on Nogalitos Street near South Zarzamora Street, describing it as being on the Southwest Side rather than the South Side, according to KSAT. That account also said the victim's injuries were not considered life-threatening. The discrepancy over the exact location and precise severity of the injuries has not been resolved between the two outlets.
Person of Interest Detained Nearby
Officers located and detained a person of interest a few blocks from the scene without incident, the same WOAI report noted, and that individual may be the suspected shooter. Investigators have not said what led up to the shooting, and the station's report states the investigation remains ongoing.
No details have been released about what sparked the confrontation inside the bar, and police have not disclosed how many people were present at the time. The circumstances that led the gunman to open fire inside the cantina remain under investigation, per the same account.
Not the First Bar Shooting on Nogalitos Street
This is not the first time gunfire has erupted outside a bar in the same corridor of San Antonio's Southwest Side. In April 2025, police responded to a shooting outside Dejavu Sport's Bar and Grill in the 2400 block of Nogalitos Street, according to the San Antonio Express-News. That shooting left three men injured, including a 32-year-old man who was shot multiple times.
Police said at the time that the shooters opened fire on two men as they left the bar and got into their car, then chased them by vehicle before fleeing, the Express-News reported. One of the injured men, a 24-year-old, was shot while parked at a nearby gas station and drove himself to the hospital, where he was later listed in stable condition. All three victims in that earlier shooting survived.
San Antonio Police Department reports crime data to the National Incident-Based Reporting System as required by law, according to the City of San Antonio. No broader trend or confirmed count of similar bar shootings in the area has been established beyond these two incidents.
The investigation into Wednesday's shooting at Weritas Cantina continues, with police still working to determine what led to the gunfire and whether the detained person of interest will face charges.
