One police officer must be still thanking Jesus for His protection after surviving an intense shootout during what should have been a routine traffic stop.
The incident occurred on April 16 and police are now able to release the incredible harrowing footage.
In the video, officer Tyler Sauvage pulls over a pickup truck with a male driver and two passengers, but sadly it quickly took a dangerous turn.
Officer Sauvage simply asked the driver to turn off the vehicle and place the keys where he could see them. Seems like a simple request to you and me, right?
However, the driver doesn’t want to comply with the officer’s request but eventually does.
That is when the officer catches a whiff of marijuana coming from the vehicle so the officer asks for the driver to step outside the car.
You then can hear the front seat passenger asking the back-seat passenger (a woman) for a gun.
After again asking the driver to exit the vehicle, shots are fired by the front-seat passenger, striking the officer’s hand and destroying his radio.
An intense but quick shootout ensued, leaving the driver and the front-seat passenger killed.
San Antonio police release body-cam video of West Side shooting that left 2 dead, officer injured https://t.co/e1kVEqWaiH
— KSAT 12 (@ksatnews) June 11, 2021
KSAT has more on the incident:
The shooting happened around 11:27 a.m., April 16, in the 2300 block of Pinn Road when Officer Tyler Sauvage, a five-year veteran, conducted a traffic stop on a blue pickup truck.
The video shows Sauvage approach the truck, which was occupied by two men and a woman, and instruct the driver to stop going through his pockets.
The driver was then asked to turn off the car and place the keys where the officer could see them.
Sauvage asked for the driver’s ID and moments later, told him to step out of the truck after saying he could smell marijuana.
The driver admitted to the officer that he smoked marijuana earlier and that it was just the smell — that he hadn’t had any in his possession. He said to the officer in the video that he was “…Just being honest with you.”
In the video, a police official said the front seat passenger is heard asking the backseat passenger for a gun. The officer then opens the driver’s door and in just a matter of seconds, the suspects fire multiple gunshots.
Sauvage is hit by the gunfire in the hand, which is seen in the video covered in blood, and he retreated to his vehicle. His police radio was also hit in the exchange.
The officer dropped his weapon in the video after being shot, but he was able to retrieve it before taking cover behind his police unit.
Here is the dashcam footage of the shooting:
https://twitter.com/mrtdogg_1/status/1403461118937518085?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The San Antonio Police Department released this video of the shooting:
An officer in San Antonio, Texas, asked civilians to call 911 for police backup after his hand was shot and his radio destroyed in a gun battle on the side of the road.
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) June 13, 2021
Here is more from Breitbart:
Shots rang out and blood ran from Sauvage’s right hand as he moved back for cover. Sauvage continued to respond by shooting, but his gun continued to jam because he could not hold it firmly enough in his wounded hand.
Barbosa and Garcia were both killed in the gun battle. A third passenger, an unidentified 22-year-old woman, was wounded but survived.
5 NBC DFW quoted Police Chief William McManus saying, “The officer is very lucky to be alive at that close range having been shot in the hand and not somewhere else more vital.”
The officer’s training and quick thinking likely saved his life.
Excellent job by this @SATXPolice surviving this deadly encounter! Unbelievable that the family of the driver (also a suspect) blames the officer who was shot during the encounter for the death of their loved one! https://t.co/OHBIqyDrQU
— Jim Gilbert (@CHIEFGILBERT1) June 13, 2021
Only if the they did what they were told to do!!! This is how fast things can happen in an instant!
Intense: Body Cam Captures Shootout After Passenger Opens Fire on San Antonio Officer https://t.co/tiG6cgpMXe— Michael Lewis (@Michaell02Lewis) June 12, 2021
Awesome job. Didn't give up even after being shot. Got the trash off the street.
Kudos, wishing the officer a quick, full recovery. #blesstheblue #irishangelhttps://t.co/XmSk7XoFoY— Irish Angel Inc. (@BlueIrishAngel2) June 13, 2021
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