Probationary officers fired after running off during officer-involved shooting
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio police department confirmed two probationary officers were fired after they ran off during an officer-involved shooting this week.
Police Chief William McManus said the two probationary officers were accompanying Sergeant Steven Castillo when he was called early Monday morning to check out a disturbance at a home on Spring Dale Street. A probationary officer is a rookie officer, one who just got out of academy a year or less.
The parents of the suspect, identified as Daniel Moncada, called 911 to help get their son under control. Castillo arrived with the probationary officers and confronted Moncada in a bedroom.
Detectives said Moncada fired a shotgun toward Castillo; he returned fire, killing Moncada. Sources later claimed the two probationary officers ran off during the gunfire. McManus called it an "unavoidable shooting."
The two unidentified officers were fired for their actions, McManus said, but they will not face any criminal charges.
“I felt it best that these two officers need to look for another profession,” McManus said.
Castillo, a 26-year veteran of the force, was assigned to administrative duty pending an investigation.
“We expect officers to react in a certain way and it didn’t happen," McManus said. "In order to protect SAPD officers we felt it best to let these officers go."
