Ex-Texas cop charged for shooting teen eating hamburger

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://apnews.com/article/police-shootings-texas-san-antonio-government-and-politics-e8acec27cb3115cd7bfdda8b1fa584aa

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A now-former San Antonio police officer was charged Tuesday with two counts of aggravated assault by a peace officer for shooting and gravely wounding a teen who was eating a hamburger in his car in a McDonald’s parking lot.

James Brennand, 25, was charged in the Oct. 2 shooting of Erik Cantu, 17, according to a police statement. He turned himself in to police Tuesday night and remained in custody, said Police Chief William McManus.

Cantu is unconscious and on life support, his family said Tuesday.

“There is no improvement in his condition,” the family said in a statement delivered by their lawyer, Brian Powers. “The last two days have been difficult, and we expect more difficulty ahead, but we remain hopeful.”

Body cam footage of the shooting here:

[FoxNewsSucks]

1. That piece of shit pig should be charged with attempted murder.

[niyad]

2. I am very much afraid it will be murder.

[StormKing]

3. He has to die first for it to be murder

And without a death, attempted murder won't stick. It's incompetence not an attempt at murder.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

12. Oh please, spare us

The whole point of the post you're responding to is that the poster is saying they're afraid it might be actual murder ... ya know, because the teen may well die.

Prosecutors are capable of charging appropriately, they don't charge 'attempted murder' when the victim is dead. Derp.

And "incompetence" is really not a good excuse, so, again, spare us

[StormKing]

42. You're slightly confused

You're slightly confused. You are reading my interpretation of the legal system as an attempt to make excuses for the dude.

This is how the system works.

Murder won't stick without a death.
Attempted murder won't stick because he didn't set out that night to murder someone. Sure, we view it as attempted murder and I don't disagree.

BUT THAT'S THE LAW.

So it's assault.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

44. Whatever, sorry if I misunderstood

That said, I don't think attempted murder cases necessarily rely on 'someone setting out to murder someone else'.

Some jurisdictions explicitly have 1st vs 2nd degree charges, where 1st degree means you intended to kill. Other's have wide sentencing guidelines which take into account the totality of the situation, including obviously 'intent'.

https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/blog/attempted-murders-sentence/

[ProfessorGAC]

65. They Don't

That's why there are degrees of the crime.
Murder 1 obviously requires intent. (Premeditation)
But, all forms of murder do not require prior intent.
I know! My uncle was guilty of just such a crime. He pled guilty so there was no trial. I don't remember for sure, but I believe he pled down to a lesser manslaughter charge than what he could have been tried for.
He spent about 10 years in the slammer.

[iemanja]

88. Intent can be formed in an instant

It doesn't need to be plotted at the beginning of the night. The only reason it's not attempted murder is because he was a cop.

[niyad]

40. ffs, It is obvious that I am afraid that that teenager will die, that that

ffilthy piece of slime will have murdered him.

[StormKing]

43. "common sense"

"common sense" and legal definitions don't always jive together

[Hugh_Lebowski]

45. I'll save you some typing and make you look even smarter next time

"common sense" and legal definitions don't always jibe.

[StormKing]

51. Oh no a TYPO

A TTTYYYYYPPPPOOOOO

Okay how old are we? I'd expect this is a knuckle dragging argument with a Trumper but really? Really? *Sigh*

[Hugh_Lebowski]

55. That's not a typo, people routinely use 'jive' instead of the proper word which is 'jibe'

I see it ALL THE TIME.

It's just a pet peeve of mine, don't mind me.

[StormKing]

56. Oh

Okay. I guess we all have pet peeves.

I say Jive due to my background in music. I've always thought of it as a harmony thing.

Like, since forever 😅

I had actually corrected it from "jibe" when you replied. I was unaware of "jibe" as a word actually lmao.

[BlackSkimmer]

74. That's a peeve of mine too.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one lol!

[Hugh_Lebowski]

80. Imagine that ... us thinking alike

[BlackSkimmer]

82. I know, right?

[niyad]

46. Since I did not use those words, you are playing manipulative and deceptive

games putting those words in quotation marks. Go play somewhere else.

[StormKing]

52. You're overreacting - re: quote marks

The quote marks are not to attribute it to you. I mean anyone can look up and see it's not there.

"Common sense" as a concept doesn't get or deserve much respect because as they say "common sense isn't common." I typically put bullshit ideas in quote marks. It's right up there with "far leftist" and other ideas that make me roll my eyes.

[BlackSkimmer]

76. I'm amazed the poor kid wasn't killed outright.

I hope that ex-cop faces the full extent of the law.

[niyad]

78. Agree on both points.

[Disaffected]

4. A horrific case but,

what did the victim eating a hamburger(as stated by the OP title) have to do with anything?

Such clickbait implies that's all there was to it.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. "what did the victim eating a hamburger(as stated by the OP title) have to do with anything?"

That's what he was doing when he was shot. You can read the article for more context, which would get you this:

A rookie officer, Brennand reported that the vehicle in which Cantu was sitting had evaded him the night before during an attempted traffic stop. Brennand said he suspected the vehicle was stolen.

In body camera footage released by police, Brennand opens the car door and tells Cantu to get out. The car drives backward, door open, and the officer fires multiple times into the vehicle. He continues to shoot as the car drives away.

Investigators quickly determined that the use of deadly force was unwarranted, and Brennand was fired. Charges against Cantu of aggravated assault and evading arrest were dropped.

“There is no question in anybody’s mind looking at that video that the shooting is not justified,” (police chief) McManus said.

You can also watch the video, included in the OP, and come to your own conclusion.

[Disaffected]

8. I did watch the video and my comment

still stands. What does his eating a hamburger have to do with anything other than making it look even worse than it was??

[WhiskeyGrinder]

10. That's what he was doing when the cop threw open the door and shot him.

It's impossible to "make" it look worse because that's all it was.

[Disaffected]

11. You still have not

answered the question.

But never mind, it's not worth further discussion......

[LeftInTX]

15. It's describing that he was sitting in a parked vehicle doing what you expect people to do at McD's

The cop was responding to a disturbance unrelated to this kid who was sitting in the McDonald's parking lot.
The cop got distracted when he thought he recognized the kid's vehicle from the night before.

Instead of following through on the disturbance, the cop went up to the kid and opened the door. The kid drove away and the cop recklessly shot at him across the parking lot.

[Disaffected]

25. Yes, that is what happened.

I reiterate however, the fact that he was eating a cheeseburger, or breathing or turning his head or scratching his nuts for that matter, is not relevant in any way to what subsequently happened. I therefore question why that irrelevant factoid was included in the OP title, and in such a fashion, I would suggest, that made the events seem even worse i.e. eating a cheeseburger was all the kid was doing.

Sorry, I don't know any other way of explaining why I questioned it.

[inthewind21]

47. Because

eating a hamburger is ALL that kid was doing. Unless you saw something on that video that is invisible to everyone else.

[Disaffected]

53. He was also

driving a suspected stolen car which is the reason why the cop tried to apprehend him (whether such apprehension was justified or not).

The cop did not attempt an arrest just because the victim was eating a hamburger (as I have tried to point out in several previous posts to little apparent avail).

Anyhow, this thread has become something of a pissing match and I'll have no further participation in it.

[LudwigPastorius]

87. Why are you grilling the original poster about the article's headline when...

they didn't write it?

Your point of contention is with the Associated Press.

[EndlessWire]

20. IT IS SHOCKING

that some minor was sitting in his car with his girlfriend EATING A CHEESEBURGER when some asshole cop pulls open his door and orders him out at gunpoint. THAT'S WHY.

Another reason is that the story, which most of us have read, is immediately identifiable by the fact that this was the kid who was shot while EATING A CHEESEBURGER at McDonalds. THAT'S WHY. You can index this story as SHOT WHILE EATING A CHEESEBURGER.

JFC...

[Treefrog]

27. Thank you.

I don't get the poster's confusion at all.

[GuppyGal]

31. +1000

[BlackSkimmer]

77. And if he'd been throwing a frisbee, they would have reported it as "a frisbee throwing kid."

And I agree with the OP. No way to make this look any worse.

[uponit7771]

57. Because that's what teen was doing before LEO took inappropriate actions as described by his CO

[pinkstarburst]

67. That's what the kid was doing

when the cop threw open the door and shot him. He was sitting there eating a hamburger in his car. I am haunted by the startled, terrified look in this child's eyes, his mouth still full of the hamburger in his hands, as he stares up at the cop. I think of how many times I have done the exact same thing--bought fast food and pulled forward into a parking space to eat it before getting back on the road. Nothing ever happened to me. But I am not a young Hispanic man.

[magicarpet]

5. Well,.. it kinda looks like the kid is hanging on to life by a thread.

This bang bang shoot 'em up cop might get a murder charge if the kid does not take a turn for the better.

This meat-headed cop should never been put on any police force or issued a weapon. He was just drooling to exert his authority over the general public showing how tough and macho he is.

The cop 24 years - the kid he shot 17 years.
What a fucking waste of two young lives.

[brush]

6. They charged the victim with evading an officer and assault.

WTF? Guess the car door hitting the cop as he was blasting away at the occupants in the car was assault.

[Disaffected]

9. Err, the cop was hit by the door

before he opened fire.

[Gaugamela]

13. So what? Even the police department stated that he was acting outside

of training and protocol.

You think a cop should be able to walk up to a kid in a car minding his own business and just start shooting? The idiot thought the car looked like one he saw earlier and didn’t even bother to run the plates.

[EndlessWire]

22. Oh, that's what I was thinking. Didn't run the plates. n/t

[Disaffected]

26. Don't be ridiculous.

If you cannot debate this issue in a rational manner, please don't bother.

[Gaugamela]

28. How is my response irrational?

[Gaugamela]

29. Please explain to me your impeccable logic. Many here are yearning for such wisdom.

[Gaugamela]

30. Hint. It might be best if you actually read the article and learn the basic facts.

Responding to headlines and first impressions can get you into trouble.

Don’t you agree?

[Gaugamela]

32. Apparently to you a "rational" response is one that necessarily agrees with you.

Kind of reminds me of another world view, don’t you agree? Let’s see, what party thinks like that . . . ?

[Gaugamela]

33. Do you even know what the word "irrational" means?

[Gaugamela]

35. Ah yes, the comforting sound of crickets. I loved that sound as a kid.

When I was a child I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man I put away childish things.

Even as an atheist, once in awhile scripture comes in handy, don’t you agree?

[MrsCoffee]

50. Take your own advice.

You can't even get past the very accurate headline. As if not mentioning the kid was eating a hamburger would make this any less heinous.

[Disaffected]

60. Sigh. OK, one last time.

I am NOT disputing the obvious fact that the kid was eating a hamburger (as has been pointed out several times upthread). What I am trying to point out is that that factoid is IRRELEVANT (please excuse the caps but how else can I emphasize what I am otherwise apparently fruitlessly trying to convey?).

The OP's heading (again repeating myself) implied the kid was shot for doing essentially nothing, including eating a hamburger. Since that is a misrepresentation of what happened i.e. the confrontation actually started because the kid was suspected of driving a stolen vehicle and, I would suggest makes the horrific incident seem even worse that it was.

I objected to the OP because IMO it not only misrepresented the situation but also was an example of the kind of knee-jerk reaction that is seen all to frequently on public forums where the emphasis often seems to be more ginning up indignation and outrage rather than accurately reporting or commenting on the facts of the case.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

62. FWIW, I merely copied the AP headline. What headline would you have written?

[Disaffected]

71. Maybe something like:

'Ex-Texas cop charged for shooting teen during arrest attempt.'

Or something else non-judgmental (it was a news report, not an editorial).

[WhiskeyGrinder]

73. It's not clear it was an arrest attempt.

[Disaffected]

75. Maybe not but

what could it have been then? A traffic stop?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

79. A conversation, inquiry, attack, mistake -- the headline writer doesn't know and shouldn't say they

know more.

[pinkstarburst]

68. Okay but correct me if I'm wrong

It's been how many days since this happened... I have not heard anything from SAPD that would indicate the car was in fact stolen. Seems like if that had been the case, it would be a pretty compelling piece of information to add, not that it makes what happened okay, but that it changes the narrative from what it currently is, which looks absolutely terrible for them, an innocent child being gunned down while eating a Happy Meal, to one who was stealing cars and who tried to run when the police told him to get out of the car.

This does not make how the officer handled it okay.

But again, I am doubting this is the case because SAPD has had ample time to follow up on the car, and if it had been stolen, that would have been announced or leaked by now, surely.

Even if the officer believed the car had been stolen, which is what he says, I am thinking the correct procedure is to call the plate in and get information yes or no, right? If it's stolen, call in for backup as he approaches the people inside. If it's not, leave them alone. Not to run up to the vehicle, throw open the door and scare the crap out of the people inside, and when they panic and drive off, start shooting them.

[Disaffected]

69. Thanks, I agree with

all of that. It's bad no matter how you slice it.

I wonder if this is a one-off for the cop or, is he an aggressive hot-head?

[LeftInTX]

90. The officer did call the plates in. It's on one of those bodycam videos.

However, he didn't wait for dispatch to run the plate.

&ab_channel=PoliceActivity

[brush]

23. Yes. Guess that was the made-up assault charge.

Too many LEOs are out of control and don't have the disposition to be armed with a gun. The trigger happy idiot in the video for example.

[uponit7771]

58. After cop took inapropriate actions right?

[Disaffected]

61. Yes, perhaps yanking the door abruptly open

and demanding the suspect get out of the car was inappropriate (I don't really know, I'm not a cop).

[LeftInTX]

63. Yes, it is inappropriate.

He should have identified himself as an officer BEFORE approaching the vehicle.


If someone opened your car door while you were sitting in a parking lot minding you own business, doing what is normal in a parking lot, (in my case, it's often relaxing, while scrolling through my phone) your initial reaction is going to think that this person is trying to rob you.

We don't know whether Erik was able to process that this was a cop because it happened so darn fast.

[Disaffected]

66. Yeah, the kid possibly panicked

and tried to escape. A v bad scene all 'round.

[LeftInTX]

92. On Wednesday, police confirmed: Erik Cantu's vehicle was NOT stolen

https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/it-was-reported-a-former-sapd-officer-believed-erik-cantus-car-was-stolen-it-wasnt

The question is: How does a reasonable, law abiding person respond when someone opens your car door and says "Get out of the car!" (This is probably one reason why charges against Cantu were dropped)

The officer approached Erik's vehicle from the back. I wonder if Erik knew this was a cop? Or how long it took Erik to realize this was a cop? I wonder how the lighting was? (Although the video shows decent lighting, we don't know what Erik could see. )The cop started shooting within 5 seconds of approaching the vehicle.

If his vehicle was stolen, one could assume that if one is sitting in a stolen vehicle, an encounter with an officer could happen. But Erik wasn't breaking any laws. We have laws in the US against unlawful search and seizure.

I believe the cop had wanted to pull over Erik's vehicle the night before (I assume it was a likely traffic violation). When the cop ran the plates the night before, they did not match the vehicle. SAPD confirmed the plate did not match the vehicle, but the vehicle was not stolen. (Likely something happened to the original plate and a plate was transferred from another vehicle...)

[summer_in_TX]

17. I read they dropped those charges against the victim.

[3Hotdogs]

14. My question: Did the cop know that there was a passenger in the car

before he fired several shots into the car?

[LeftInTX]

16. Stupid cop was firing across the parking lot! Lucky no one else was shot!

It was like a stupid movie or cop show.

[GuppyGal]

34. +1000

[Lancero]

39. Bigger question, would he have even cared?

[DET]

18. So Sad

That video is heartbreaking. Some poor kid just eating a burger, shot by what appeared to be a scared young cop who had no business being on the police force. I bet the cop feels just awful - as he should. Two young lives ruined for nothing.

[LeftInTX]

19. Yep!

[EndlessWire]

24. I'll bet he doesn't feel a thing.

He's worried about his own ass, if anything. And if the cop is so damned scared he has to shoot someone just under his personal suspicion as the person is driving his girlfriend to safety, he doesn't need to be a cop.

[LeftInTX]

37. Well, he should have never been a cop

Now that he's been charged, I wonder more about him...
Where is he from? Has he worked in LE before? How old is he?

I found out more stuff.

He's 25
Ex military dog handler
Him and his wife had a baby in August (boy he sure messed that up)

[uponit7771]

59. +1,

[Ilsa]

21. What does anyone expect when a state normalizes gun toting 24/7?

The place turns into the wild west again. Police are worried that everyone has a gun since it is normal there. And it's one reason I will never move back to Texas.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

36. I am glad that this idiot is being charged

[Judi Lynn]

38. So strange to hear in the video he shouted "shots fired" while asking for backup,

considering he was the only one shooting! How does that work?

[niyad]

41. CYA for that now-former "lawman". Standard cover-up, from other cases we

havevseen. . like yelling "stop resisting", as they are beating people up.

[NutmegYankee]

54. It's a standard saying, even when only police shoot.

That is completely normal. Most departments have policies that require such an announcement when a firearm is used.

[Emile]

48. Ten days before charging him! Unbelievable.

[Demovictory9]

49. Good

[WhiskeyGrinder]

64. Update: Cop released on bond

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/10/12/us/san-antonio-police-shooting-charges-wednesday/index.html

(CNN) The former San Antonio police officer who was charged and arrested Tuesday in the shooting of an unarmed 17-year-old at a McDonald's parking lot was released early Wednesday on bond, according to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.

James Brennand turned himself in Tuesday night on two charges of aggravated assault by a public servant. He was released at 4:03 a.m. CT after posting $100,000 bond for each count, the sheriff's office said.

The October 2 shooting, which left teenager Erik Cantu in critical condition, was a "failure for one individual police officer," the San Antonio police chief said Tuesday. He has since been fired.

The incident began when Brennand, a probationary officer with seven months of experience, responded to an unrelated disturbance call at the restaurant and saw a car he believed had evaded police the day before.

[gldstwmn]

70. Aggravated assault?

[tishaLA]

72. I hadn't heard the kid was on life support until last night

I knew he was shot and hospitalized but I didn't realize the severity.

I feel like the cop is being undercharged here and should have something more serious, but maybe aggravated assault is more serious than it sounds to me. He'd better hope this kid doesn't die.

[Jedi Guy]

81. It's next to impossible to imagine how this officer could have screwed this up worse.

His story is that he suspected the car the two kids were sitting in was the same car that had fled from him the night before and that he had reason to believe the car was stolen. Okay, that's fine so far as it goes, but he legit did every single thing after that completely wrong. This is a perfect example of someone who clearly had no business being a cop in the first place.

I'm generally sympathetic towards police and give them the benefit of the doubt, but this officer was an idiot and a teenager might have died (and might still) because of his idiocy. Good on the DA for charging him. Let the courts and jury do their thing and let the chips fall where they may. I can't see how he could possibly be acquitted here, but juries do wacky things sometimes.

[BlackSkimmer]

83. It seems pure common sense, if not standard procedure to at least call in the license plate first.

Completely unprofessional, stupid, outrageous. I can't think of enough words.

I read that his wife is still in the military, so they'll have a paycheck. But with a new baby, and now all the legal bills, he's in for a long hard ride. And he deserves every bit of it.

Can't imagine that the kid will pull through, but miracles do happen. Just so tragic.

[Jedi Guy]

84. It was idiotic on multiple levels.

He could've run the plate himself on his MTC in his cruiser. He could've had dispatch do it if he didn't know how, though that would've been taught in training. If the plate came back to a different car or the car was indeed reported stolen, he should've waited for backup before initiating a stop, or a felony stop in the latter case. If the car left before backup arrived, he should have followed at a distance and initiated the stop when backup got there. A felony stop is terrifying for the people involved since it involves multiple cars and weapons being drawn, but that's still preferable to what ended up happening.

Quite apart from what happened to the kids in the car, simply walking up and yanking the door of the car open without announcing one's presence is asinine, from an officer safety perspective. In a state like Texas where so many people are wandering around armed, that's just begging to be shot out of surprised reflex by an occupant of the car who, completely understandably, might mistake it for a carjacking attempt.

I have sympathy for the former officer's wife. Life is hard enough without being married to a complete imbecile. I have no sympathy whatsoever for the former officer himself. He owns every second of this debacle, and he should pay for it.

[Treefrog]

85. You said it.

+1000.

[LeftInTX]

89. Yep! You sum it up!

From the SAPD Chief:

“It started going bad from the very start of this encounter,” McManus said last week, questioning why the officer approached the vehicle in the first place. “You don’t know that for certain it’s the same vehicle, you don’t know for certain it’s the same driver.”

Tactically, the officer should not have placed himself in front of an open door of a car that was turned on, he said. And once the officer “cleared the door and was no longer in danger of being knocked down or pulled out of the car, he was not in a position where he should have used deadly force.”


https://sanantonioreport.org/former-sapd-officer-teenager-shooting-arrest-aggravated-assault/

[LudwigPastorius]

86. Oink!

[LeftInTX]

91. Erik Cantu's vehicle was not stolen

Brennand said he approached the 17-year-old's car, a 2008 BMW because he believed it was the same car he'd tried to pull over the previous night. According to a narrated video of the events in the OIS Brennand thought the car might be stolen.

Wednesday afternoon the San Antonio Police Department confirmed to us the car driven by Cantu when he was shot was not stolen.

The vehicle did have license plates on it that were registered to another vehicle but were not stolen.

SAPD said they suspect that's why Brennand tried to originally pull over the vehicle the night before the shooting before deciding not to chase.

https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/it-was-reported-a-former-sapd-officer-believed-erik-cantus-car-was-stolen-it-wasnt