Dennis Mattison has never had any issues with his neighbors who lived across the street from his southside home. But he and his brother Robert can’t say the same for other neighbors.
They say that a handful of homes on the 300 block of Regina Street have been drug houses, including the residence next door to them.
“It was a halfway house for drugs, repeatedly,” Robert said. “It was raided three or four years ago by six police agencies.”
They say that the most recent home invasion surprised them.
“[He] appeared to be a hard-working individual that worked in the construction industry,” Mattison described. “The only thing that he liked to do was work hard and send home money. He would help several people out in the neighborhood.”
Dennis was home when his neighbors were shot around midnight. Police say that two men forced their way into the home and that a man who was armed ordered one of the residents to get on the ground. That’s when they say another man went into a room where the other resident was and fired a single shot.
Police say that the suspects then took off but that the man who was in the room chased after them, shooting his gun. Police say that he was fatally shot. One of the suspects, 32-year-old Eddie Padilla, was also shot. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
“All I know is that it’s a tragedy that shouldn’t have happened,” Robert said.
San Antonio police are still trying to figure out whether the attack was intentional or random. Officials have not yet identified the man that was fatally shot.