A police officer in San Antonio is lucky to be alive following an intense shootout during a traffic stop.
Police have released video footage of the shooting, which occurred on April 16th.
In the video, officer Tyler Sauvage pulled over a pickup truck with a male driver and two pasengers.
Officer Sauvage asked the driver to turn off the vehicle and place the keys where he could see them.
The driver initially declined, but did eventually comply with the officer’s request.
After smelling marijuana, the officer asked the driver to step outside of the vehicle.
The front seat passenger can be heard 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.
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.
Dashcam Footage of the Shooting
The San Antonio Police Department Released This Critical Incident Video of the Shooting
Our friends at Breitbart have more details on the shooting:
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.
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