New Braunfels, Texas — On this date, at approximately 1:30am, the New Braunfels Police Department was dispatched to Prince Solms Park (in the 100 block of Liebscher Drive) for reports of multiple shots fired. Officers arrived in the area and began investigating the incident. That investigation revealed that a total of 7 soldiers from Fort Hood, Texas, had arrived in the park shortly after 1am. The soldiers explained to officers that shortly before 1:30am they had witnessed a disturbance between a male and female in the parking lot of the park and they had intervened. The soldiers believed they had successfully deescalated the situation and began to walk back to their vehicle.
As the soldiers were walking away, the female involved in the disturbance ran to her boyfriend’s vehicle, removed a 9mm handgun from under the driver’s seat and handed it to the male that had been involved in the disturbance (her boyfriend). The soldiers told officers that they became aware of the handgun when they heard the slide from the gun being racked and they saw the male aiming the weapon in their direction. The soldiers then scattered and ran to their vehicles for cover as the suspect began firing the weapon. One soldier was able to get to his vehicle and retrieved his personal .40 caliber handgun and he began firing as well, laying down what he described as “cover fire” so that his fellow soldiers could reach cover.
The ongoing investigation has revealed that the suspect shooter fired a total of 19 rounds from his handgun, striking two vehicles belonging to the soldiers a total of three times. The soldier who was returning fire shot a total of 7 rounds with one of those rounds striking the suspect in the right elbow.
The suspect, his girlfriend, and the soldiers had all initially fled the scene; however, once police arrived in the park, the soldiers returned and reported what had happened during the incident. Officers then began looking for the suspect’s vehicle which was located a short time later at the Pilot gas station in the 3200 block of Loop 337. All of the parties that were involved were then brought back to the New Braunfels Police Department headquarters for interviews. As of this release, the suspect, a 24-year old male from San Antonio, was medically cleared by EMS and arrested, charged with one count of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. The female, a 26-year old from San Antonio, was also arrested and charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. None of the 7 soldiers (ranging in age from 19 to 25) were harmed during the incident and have been cooperating fully with the investigation, and no charges are expected to be filed against them. The investigation is ongoing at this time, and further charges against the male and female currently under arrest may be forthcoming.