San Antonio cop James Brennand began barking commands at a surprised 17-year-old boy eating fast food in his car in a McDonald's parking lot, shot him when the car rolled back, then shot several more times into the moving vehicle as the panicked, injured youngster tried to drive away.
The boy, not a suspect in any crime, was charged with assaulting a police officer after being taken to hospital: Brennand lied in his police report, falsely claiming to have been struck with the teen's vehicle.
Not only did this not happen, but the vehicle's movement prior to him opening fire was likely just the startled teen taking his foot off the brake. Brennand was fired as media interest gathered; his unnamed victim is reportedly in critical condition.
Brennand, a probationary officer with seven months on the force, was at a McDonald's in the 11700 block of Blanco Road for an unrelated call when he thought he recognized a vehicle in the parking lot that allegedly evaded him during a pursuit the night before, according to MySA. Brennand initially said in an incident report that he fired at the vehicle after he was struck by the driver who was trying to evade capture, the news site reports. However, raw body cam footage released by SAPD on Wednesday appears to contradict those claims.
The video, I think, is unusually illustrative of what happens in the officer's mind: the movement of the vehicle authorizes him to kill the driver without further ado. He thought he'd hit the jackpot.
