Dec 17, 2012
Gunman Shoot Gun San Antonio Movie Theater Mayan Palace Theatre Jesus Manuel Garcia
Gunfire erupted at the Mayan Palace Theatre on Southwest Military Sunday night just before 9:30 pm. This shooting comes just days after a deadly rampage at a school in Connecticut and sparks memories of the the mass slaying at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.
An armed off-duty deputy working security was able to take down the shooter before he could kill anyone.
Investigators tell News 4 WOAI the gunman is 19-year-old Jesus Manuel Garcia. They say he worked at the China Garden restaurant right next to the Mayan Palace Theater.
Police say Garcia opened fire at China Garden because of relationship problems with his girlfriend who also worked at the restaurant, although she was not present at the time.
Officers explain that Garcia then continued to fire his weapon across the parking lot and into the theater.
Garcia even opened fire on a San Antonio Police Department patrol car explained Detective Lou Antu, spokesman for the Bexar County Sherriff's Office.
"Everybody was just coming out of the side of the theater, running out the emergency exits. And everyone was screaming and running," explained a moviegoer named Megan.
Garcia was finally stopped by a deputy who was working an off-duty job at the theater. The deputy shot Garcia four times.
"The officer involved, she took the appropriate action to try to keep everyone safe in the movie theater," Antu said.
Antu says the gunman never made it into the theater itself, thanks largely to the heroic work of the off duty deputy.
"She did what she felt she had to do," Antu said. "I feel that she saved a lot of lives by taking the action she had to take."
Garcia has since undergone surgery and is in stable condition at SAMC. He's being charged with aggravated assault for shooting at an officer and shooting a bystander. That bystander is listed in stable condition.