Sheriff's Office Identifies Veteran Killed In Officer-Involved Shooting

SAN ANTONIO, TX — The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office has identified the suspect killed in an officer-involved shooting Tuesday night.

According to Sheriff Javier Salazar, deputies were dispatched to the 11000 block of Liberty Field after receiving reports of a suicidal individual.

When police arrived on the scene, they located 31-year-old Damian Lamar Daniels. Daniels is a combat veteran who was described as mentally unstable.

“It was readily apparent that this suspect was despondent,” said Salazar. “Reports were he was suicidal and despondent over the loss of several family members and there were indications he was seeing things or hearing voices.”

According to Chief Salazar, Bexar County deputies had been called to the home multiple times but had been unable to make contact with Daniels.

Deputies realized Daniels had a handgun and spent 30 minutes trying to deescalate the situation. 

“One [deputy] tried to bond with the suspect that he in fact recently lost a loved one and understood what he was going through,” said Salazar.

Daniels would then become aggressive and a struggle ensued. A deputy attempted to subdue Daniels by using his taser.

Daniels then reached for the service weapon in the holster of the deputy’s waistband. After Daniels repeatedly failed to follow the deputies’ order a deputy deployed his weapon.

The suspect was struck twice in the upper torso and ultimately died at the scene.

According to Salazar, after reviewing the body camera footage he is proud of how his deputies handled the situation.

“It’s heart-wrenching to see deputies going through so much to try to save a life and in the end, this had to happen,” said the sheriff.

The three veterans involved,  two veterans and one on her fourth day working for the office, will be following protocol for officer-involved shootings.