An elderly San Antonio man killed his roommate early Friday and then fired dozens of rounds at responding police, keeping officers pinned down before the gunman killed himself, the city’s police chief said.
“He probably fired in a 20-minute period, probably 100 rounds,” Police Chief Bill McManus said. The first police car on the scene was struck 40 times, he said.
The violence unfolded shortly after 2:30 a.m., when someone called police and said a man had killed his roommate, McManus said.
When officers arrived at the apartment building, the man shot from the door, he said.
No officers were hurt, and one officer returned fire but did not hit the suspect.
The suspect, who was not immediately identified by police at the scene, killed himself, McManus said. He was born in 1951, making him in his 70s, he said.
The gunman called someone he knew and said that he had killed his roommate, and that man called police, McManus said. The roommate’s body was later found inside the apartment along with that of the suspect, he said.
“He was shooting everywhere,” McManus said. A motive was under investigation.
Officers evacuated the nearby homes that they were able to. There were no reports of anyone else being hurt, the police chief said.
SWAT officers and an armored vehicle were among those that responded to the scene, NBC affiliate WOAI of San Antonio reported. Negotiators tried contact the suspect, the station reported, but McManus said he did not communicate with them.
