Home › Forums › Texas › San Antonio Police Department › Officer Oscar Cruz Jr.
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cburk.
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cburk
ParticipantIncident: On March 9, 2020, Officer Oscar Cruz Jr. opened fire on an unarmed teenager who was running away from him in a West Side neighborhood. Body camera footage (revealed later during arbitration) showed Cruz chasing two teenage suspects (who were accused of trying car door handles). When one teen fled, Cruz shouted, “Stop running or I will f—ing shoot you!” and then fired two shots in the teen’s direction as the youth sprinted away
. Neither teen was struck or injured. Cruz claimed the teen had thrown an object (initially saying a rock) that hit him, though evidence later suggested it was a shoe and that Cruz was not in serious danger
. Chief McManus determined Cruz’s use of lethal force against fleeing, non-threatening suspects violated policy, and in mid-2020 SAPD issued an indefinite suspension (termination)
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Outcome: Cruz also faced criminal consequences – in early 2022, he was indicted on a felony charge of deadly conduct by a public servant for the shooting
. His trial began in 2023, but resulted in a mistrial in January 2024 due to late disclosure of evidence (witnesses revealed information mid-trial that had not been provided to the defense)
. By summer 2024, a judge dismissed the case entirely, so Cruz was never convicted
. Despite the cleared criminal case, his firing from SAPD remained in place. As of March 2025, Officer Cruz was in the middle of an arbitration appeal seeking to get his job back
. The arbitration hearings, which included airing the bodycam footage publicly, will determine if his firing is upheld or overturned. For now, Cruz remains terminated, illustrating a case where an officer avoided legal punishment but still had to fight to return to the force. (No civil lawsuit by the teens has been reported, but the incident drew significant public scrutiny.)
[Return to blog post](https://watchaudits.com/footage-shows-fired-sapd-officer-firing-at-fleeing-teen/)
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