Man Tracks Down His Stolen Truck, Kills Alleged Thief In Gunfight Outside Mall

A Texas man whose truck was stolen tracked it down and confronted the suspected thief, killing him in a public shootout on Thursday, police said.

The owner of the Ford truck found it at the South Park Mall in San Antonio and confronted the man who had been driving it and a woman passenger, demanding at gunpoint they get out of the vehicle, Police Chief William McManus said at a press briefing.

The owner then called the police and made the two sit on the ground beside the truck’s tire to wait, but the man pulled his gun and fired at the truck’s owner, injuring him, police said.

Parking lot of South Park Mall where a man was killed after a confrontation over a stolen vehicle.
Parking lot of South Park Mall where a man was killed after a confrontation over a stolen vehicle.

Parking lot of South Park Mall where a man was killed after a confrontation over a stolen vehicle.

The truck’s owner then returned fire, killing the man in the parking lot and injuring the woman, police said.

“The bad guy is the one dead, yes,” McManus told reporters. “The driver of the stolen vehicle is deceased, shot by the owner of the stolen vehicle.”

Police said the truck owner and the woman passenger were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds. The woman is in critical condition, and the truck owner is in stable condition.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus speaks outside South Park Mall.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus speaks outside South Park Mall.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus speaks outside South Park Mall.

“Look, he was trying to recover his property. I guess it would depend on who you asked if he did the right thing or not,” McManus said.

The identities of the people involved were not immediately released. A woman with the truck owner at the time of the confrontation was not injured.

A spokesperson for the San Antonio Police Department told HuffPost there are no new updates as of Friday.

The South Park Mall did not immediately responded to HuffPost’s request for comment.

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