Authorities are investigating the fatal law enforcement shooting of a food influencer in Texas last weekend, officials said Thursday.
Michael Duarte, who was known as “foodwithbearhands” to nearly 2 million followers on TikTok and Instagram, was fatally shot Saturday in Medina County, west of San Antonio, according to a spokesman with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The spokesman, Orlando De Luna Jr., described the incident as an “officer-involved shooting” and said it is the subject of an active and ongoing investigation by the Texas Rangers. He declined further comment on the circumstances surrounding Duarte’s death.
TMZ first reported the shooting.
Reached by phone Wednesday, relatives of Duarte’s declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Medina County Sheriff’s Office referred questions about the shooting to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
An online fundraiser for Duarte’s family described his death as a “horrible incident” that occurred during a trip to Texas. Duarte died three days after he celebrated his ninth wedding anniversary, according to the fundraiser.
“The world may know him as ‘FoodwithBearHands’, but to us, he was a loving husband, father, brother, and a great friend to many,” the fundraiser says.
Duarte frequently posted about barbecuing and grilling. A brief biography posted on his Instagram account said that he learned to cook as a teenager at a relative’s Mexican restaurant in California’s Imperial Valley.
Duarte later worked as a dishwasher and manager at other restaurants, according to the biography, and he began posting videos on social media as a hobby during Covid.
Duarte had what he described in the biography as a mental health crisis during the pandemic, but later returned to restaurant work and began posting videos about food on his days off.
“Over time, I began to see it wasn’t just a hobby — it could be a business, something bigger than myself,” the biography says.
