San Angelo Woman Shot in the Head, Police Investigate

I live in the Tres Rios neighborhood. I purchased my home here 3 years ago and have to say this neighborhood has literally 3 bad apples. The 1200 block, a bad household on the corner of Tres Rios and Toby, and a biker whose house I haven't found yet. The rest of the area is peaceful, but these jerks ruin it for everyone.

I don't know why, but the 1200 block has always attracted drug dealers. I doubt this young lady was simply driving by and got lit up. She probably knew the shooter in some way.

The house on Toby is full of trash. They shoot their guns in the middle of the night, fight, and throw their trash in the street. I've called the police on them hundreds of times and San Angelo's finest don't do much except drive and by hit the house with a spotlight when they run inside and hide like cowards.

The biker and his friends just ride drunk through the neighborhood and flip you off if you try to flag them down.

SAPD and the city doesn't seem to take our complaints about these houses seriously, based on their reactions to numerous calls. It's particularly frustrating considering there are at least 2 police officers living in our neighborhood. They witness all the things we do, so I don't know what's going on. Maybe there's more to the law than I understand.

If they don't do something soon I can guarantee you I'll be forced to settle these disputes myself, as members of both of these households have threatened me and other neighbors personally. I've had conversations with all of my neighbors, and we're all just praying they get killed by the trash they attract or an act of God takes out their houses.

I too purchased a house on Tres Rios almost 3 years ago. The neighborhood originally seemed relatively quiet, but much has changed in these 3 years.

I was in close enough proximity to this occurrence to hear the gunshots while resting on my couch. Afterward, I headed outside to make sure there was no one lying dead in the street. It's a shame not only to know that I live on a street like this, but to also, the following day, receive an outlandish appraisal notice from the county to inform me of the $20,000 increase in the appraised value for my home (makes a lot of sense considering the neighborhood I live in - separate rant to come).

As my neighbor mentioned, I can tell you from having seen the amount of traffic at this house and the types of visitors to this location, that this young lady was in no way an innocent woman riding down the road. This specific vehicle has frequently visited this house in the past months. I have had my house broken in to within the past year and I couldn't feel more certain that my belongings are in the same house where these same shots originated from.

As previously stated, considering that there are multiple police officers who live within the same neighborhood, I too can't understand why more hasn't been done, and isn't being done. Knowing there's a cop living on the street behind you and one also living a block down should give you a sense of security and safety, however, I guess this is no longer the norm.

I had to talk to multiple detectives throughout the evening of this occurrence, and was unable to leave my home for almost 3 hours due to the street being blocked from both directions during the investigation. In addition, my yard and driveway was one of the properties being searched for shell casings, etc. It is beyond angering to know that I could have been doing simple chores in my garage or mowing my grass and have been a victim from a bullet gone the wrong way.

There are children riding their bikes and playing on this street every day. Grandmothers, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters walking their dogs or running on this street every day. If the law won't take these matters seriously enough to fix them and help these innocent children and our family members from being in the "wrong place" at the "wrong time", then how long do they expect before we as not only residents of this neighborhood, but also as parents and family members, take these matters into our own? Something MUST change.

I agree with my two neighbors. We live in a nice neighborhood, except for a few bad apples. I live on the 1200 block. I know who the troublemakers are and so do the police. It is frustrating that nothing is done and when something like this happens, everybody thinks we live in a trashy area, which is not the case.

I have had some verbal altercations with some questionable characters, but they won't come near me so it never escalates. The neighborhood needs to come together to address these issues and set up a meeting with our San Angelo Police Rep. I'm not going to put up with this crap, either the police take care of business or we do.

Kristof, you are probably within several houses of me. I'll send my phone number to Joe Hyde and he can give it to Jim and you.

But can certainly sympathize. My neighbor was recently featured in a story here on San Angelo live about repeat offenders. His house has signs on it now about how it's a substandard structure. I too live in a nice neighborhood but he has brought the value down. Of course the city sees fit to raise taxes on my property.

Vote for Frank Carter!

Talk, talk, talk! Everybody talks about change..VOTE FOR VASQUEZ...VOTE FOR CARTER! Citizens, you want change? DO YOU REALLY WANT CHANGE? "Well first, you can start by "CHANGING THE PROCESS BY WHICH YOU PLACE A POLICE CHIEF IN OFFICE!" Secondly, you can start putting pressure on our "CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS" to start funding some of our tax dollars in the direction of our Police Department. If our City Council refuses to do it, then "REMOVE" them from office! Neither of these two candidates can stop the crime in this city without more funding...period! I'm not going to get into promoting any of these candidates but unfortunately, one of these gentlemen will be our next Police Chief, like it or not! It's No wonder this city cannot dig its way out of the hell hole it's in! We all know that there are serious problems from crime, to homelessness, to drug trafficking, and so forth, and so forth. You can't blame just "ONE" individual and you can't expect "ONE" individual to wave a magic wand over this city and cure the problems that have evolved over decades of poor leadership due to too much of this "BUDDY BUDDY" mindset! Citizens, what you are witnessing today are years and years of a city that is slowly decaying due to ignorance on the part of its "ENTIRE LEADERSHIP!" Now just what do you want? "TALK, TALK, TALK...YOU REALLY WANT CHANGE?"

Mr. Chinn, I moved to San Angelo, TX in 2002. I came here in hopes of continuing a Civil Service career at Goodfellow Air Force Base. Having spent 8 years in the military, I choose San Angelo as there were employment opportunities at GAFB. I was able to secure employment at GAFB and was able to retire 4 years ago. San Angelo, TX presented itself as the "IDEAL" place to retire. I had been briefed by many military veterans that this city was perfect due to its location, its size, its great medical facilities, its friendly atmosphere, and many other great amenities. So rather than move on, we decided to stay here. As time played its course, I began to see that there were "internal" problems within our City Government. Simply, they were not able to effectively guide this city in a positive direction! High taxes, growing crime, frustrated citizens, and all of this due to a "DYSFUNCTIONAL CITY GOVERNMENT." This raised much concern. Going into the present, I clearly see much animosity amongst our City Government, and now its citizenry. Clearly, our citizens are ready for change! I'm just not convinced that they are going about it the right way. I have no intentions of moving, not just yet anyway. I try to focus my efforts on "educating" our citizens on the importance of positive change. More importantly, the benefits and how best to accomplish that goal. Trust me, San Angelo, TX is not the only municipality facing issues. However, as a community, we cannot sit back and accept the "STATUS QUO" as it currently is. My hope is that after this election is over, citizens will see the light and finally decide that change is in order. "I WANT CHANGE...POSITIVE CHANGE"

Charles Anderson I wish you and whoever just about has it worked out would have contacted the charter review committee so we could have gotten this almost worked out selection process worked out and before the voters. Where were your options and input when it could have made a difference? If you had a serious option, we could have avoided putting the option that failed on the last charter election. I would love to see a good alternative method for selecting our police chief but there aren't many allowed under Texas law as a civil service city.

Amen. There are only two ways of putting a chief in office. One is to elect; the other is to appoint. The one major thing wrong with the last proposed change was automatically making the incumbent the appointed chief. Should we ever make the change to an appointed chief it should happen months in advance of the end of term for the elected chief. The elected chief could apply, as well as any others meeting the criteria established in the City Charter. The charter needs to be revised to establish more qualifications other than being 18 and living inside the city. Currently, there are no educational, training or job experience qualifications. You don't even have to be a police officer for the first two years.

With trying to appoint the police chief is that we have a 'good ole boy ' network in this town. In order to truly make changes we would have to get rid of the current city council and put all new people in

The problem is that the chief selection process has to function well even if there is a group of crooks and good old boys in city hall. The charter should put in place a selection process that keeps the citizens involved and real public safety the focus no matter who is in city hall. A great city council today can (and probably will) turn upside down in just a few election cycles. You don't write a city charter proposal for the government you have today but the one that could be there a few years from today. Couldn't get people to see that.

The problem you suggest would be true if San Angelo were a Mayor-Council form of government. We are a City Manager-Council form of government. Don't know if that has always been true but it is our system now. The City Manager would nominate an individual to be Police Chief and then the City Council would do an up or down vote. Under our system the only way a good or bad council could remove the Police Chief would be for them to fire the City Manager and then put in a new City Manager that would fire an incumbent Police Chief. Could happen but just seems unlikely. To my understanding, most cities with appointed chiefs have the selection made by an advisory committee established by the selecting authority (manager or council). Such committees are normally a cross section of the community. The final decision then rests with the selecting authority. Determining what is a good council or a bad council is in the eyes of the beholder. To paraphrase Honest Abe: You can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot please all of the people all of the time.

Gentlemen, everyone of you have come forth with "positives & negatives" that make perfectly good sense. I applaud all of you for your comments. However, what I feel is being missed here is the fact that "THERE IS NO PERFECT SYSTEM." Mr. Anderson, Mr Chinn, and Mr. Turner, clearly all of you have considerable knowledge in City Government operations. I also believe that all of you, like me, have issues with our current method of placing our Police Chief in office. Correct me if I am wrong! In an election not too long ago, we were given the opportunity to vote on change from an "ELECTED POLICE CHIEF TO AN APPOINTED POLICE CHIEF." Citizens elected to stay with the "ELECTED POLICE CHIEF" process. I can honestly tell you that I voted against it. Reason being that it allowed for the "EXISTING POLICE CHIEF" to continue in his position without having to apply for the position. Clearly a "lose-lose" situation for those of us who were really looking for something different. The City Charter section governing this was not properly addressed thus, there were no provisions that would make the "INCUMBENT POLICE CHIEF" have to apply for the position. Nor were there provisions for establishing qualifications. This just goes to show the incompetency that exists within our City Government. Now, moving into the "FUTURE," we are again faced with having to decide between two candidates. My personal opinion is that neither of the two can move our current Police Department into the future in a manner that will result in "positive" change. There is just way to much of this "BUDDY-BUDDY" mentality that destroys the integrity/credibility of both candidates. I have stated that I moved here from cities that have an "APPOINTED" Police Chief system in place. From San Antonio, TX to Big Spring, TX, I can tell you that the process of "APPOINTING A POLICE CHIEF" in place "WORKS...IT WORKS...IT WORKS...DAMMIT IT WORKS!!" What I want to state to all of you is that we all have to realize that there is "NO PERFECT SYSTEM" in existence. There simply isn't and the sooner we come to that realization, the sooner we can work to move forward with promoting change. I don't remember exactly whether San Antonio, TX operated under a "Mayor Council" or a "City Manager" Council but I do know that Big Spring, TX operated under a "City Manger" Council. The City Manager pretty much did the " HIRING & FIRING." Gentlemen, I can tell you that both these systems work! Yes, there are flaws but not anywhere near what we are having to deal with right now in San Angelo, TX. Can we make change? Damn right we can but we have to start working together. Will there have to be changes in our current City Government? Most definitely but we start with this election. I am more that willing to be a "player" in this and I hope that all of you are willing to commit to doing the same. IF, as you all suggest, you are wanting change, then lets work on getting together and discuss this. This will not be an easy battle to win, but then what do we have to lose? What we have now is nothing to gloat about and I for one am not happy with this. Let's talk! "THE PROBLEM IS....THERE IS NO PERFECT SYSTEM"

WOW, something just dawned upon me! How in the world did we get from the main article "San Angelo Woman Shot in the Head, Police Investigate" to a lengthy discussion on "APPOINTED POLICE CHIEF VS ELECTED POLICE CHIEF?"

Mr. Kristof, you are absolutely correct in what you are stating and I want to extend my sincerest apologies. Yes, many of us steered away from the topic of the article "San Angelo Woman Shot in the Head, Police Investigate." Clearly, the discussion began with concerns for the safety of those living with the area of the alleged incident. Those concerns are legitimate and our "RANTS" here were not appropriate to the article. Further "RANTS" relative to the Police Chief election will cease immediately on my part. However, I do want to point out that it was not my intention, nor do I believe that others participation was to minimize the severity of said "criminal" activity in that area. Emotions are running high and this incident, coupled with the high rate of criminal activity within this city has raised concern for all of us. Again sir, "MY APOLOGIES"

For those of you residing in the neighborhood where this shooting took place, I want to share some information about the individual who has been arrested in connection with the shooting. His name is "Christopher Ray Chavez." Tom Green Judicial Records show that this felon has a criminal record with offenses dating back to May 2011. Most appear to be related to illegal drug activity and he was "Released on Probation" back in August 2015. This most recent arrest includes "UNAUTH USE OF VEHICLE," "UNL POSS FIREARM BY FELON," & "AGG ASSAULT W/DEADLY WEAPON." What I also found of interest is his address. He current address is listed as "TUSCON, AZ 85714." Clearly this felon is in San Angelo dealing in drugs and more than likely doing so around your neighborhood. Hopefully, our Judicial System will revoke his probation and put him in prison for a while.