Two suspects have been arrested and charged for several gunfire incidents in the San Antonio area in August, including a pair of shootings outside a gate for Lackland Air Force Base that happened within hours of each other. The gunshots led to Air Force security firing back towards the direction of the shooters, before the gunmen drove off in a stolen car.
This past week the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and San Antonio Police Department announced the arrests of two teens for the spate of shootings. Joseph Jimenez, 19, and Ricardo Samaniego, 18, were arrested at the end of August, and charged with deadly conduct with a firearm. According to law enforcement, the suspects were not directly targeting the base, but instead shooting at nearby homes adjacent to the installation.
On Aug. 17, at roughly 2:15 a.m., guards at the gate close to the Chapman Training Annex on the base heard gunfire and bullets flying by them. A stolen sedan, which Jimenez and Samaniego were seen driving around in, drove by the entrance to the base, on a road close to homes, and the two allegedly parked and then fired around the area. According to the affidavit obtained by San Antonio Express-News, Air Force security personnel fired back; that initially had not been reported in August.
The car drove off and more security was called to reinforce the gate. Two hours later, just after 4:30 a.m., the same sedan returned to the area, stopped and the teens again sprayed bullets towards homes in the area. The guards again fired back. After a brief exchange of gunfire the sedan drove off. No one on either side of the altercation was reported injured.
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The main link to the suspects came hours after the shootings outside the base on Aug. 17. That night several people at a birthday party were apparently playing with a gun when it negligently went off, hitting Samaniego in the torso while he was holding an infant; the baby was unharmed.
The two teens apparently were using a Glock pistol modified with a “switch” to convert it into an automatic weapon. Authorities were able to recover shell casings outside of Lackland AFB and matched those with bullets fired at other locations. Police also found video evidence of Samaniego and Jimenez driving the stolen car around the San Antonio area. The car was later found abandoned.
The August shooting was the second time in recent years that off-site gunmen opened fire on the base. In 2021, people shot at Lackland Air Force Base and fled, briefly leading to the base going on lockdown.
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