SAN ANTONIO — Imagine getting a call in the night that your child has been shot and is fighting to survive.
It happened to John Castaneda when his daughter Alana was shot in the face during a carjacking attempt at the Quarry Market last week.
Castaneda said his daughter had just left a Krav Maga class, and she was focused on self-defense. When Alana went for a sandwich after class, he said everything changed.
Castaneda said when his daughter found a gun in her face, she tried to give up her car, but the robbery suspect didn't understand that it had a keyless starting system. He says the man turned violent and started pistol whipping Alana when she didn't surrender a key for a car that had a push start ignition.
Castaneda says that's when Alana was shot, and that's when an employee at the market called him on the phone and helped his daughter in her greatest hour of need. Castaneda says that woman is a hero, who comforted his daughter until help arrived and gave him the information he needed to rush to her side
Castaneda said miraculously Alana has been released from the hospital and she's a fighter who is focused on recovery. Dad says he's grateful to all the medics and all the people who have poured out their support, for what is going to be a very long road to recovery.
In a phone conversation late Monday, Alana said she is grateful to everyone who has rallied to support her the past few days.
She said she has clear memories of the attack, as she remained conscious, although in shock, during the surprise assault.
Alana’s dad says his advice for families is to treasure every single day. He says it’s important to remember that you never know when your loved one might be taken away.
18-year-old Julio Caesar Rivera is being held with no chance of bonding out of jail. He has been remanded without bond. In addition to the state charges related to the attack on Castaneda, a federal complaint provides additional details about the attack.
A special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wrote a witness to the attack told arriving San Antonio police officers he saw Rivera attempting to take the victim’s vehicle and that the man attempted to stop her from getting in her car. The man said he saw Castaneda try to defend herself but the man shot her in the head. Another witness told police they saw Rivera running away after hearing the shot.
The affidavit goes on to state that an SAPD officer saw Rivera running with his gun in his right hand, and that Rivera dropped the .40 caliber Glock 22 when ordered to do so.
Investigators wrote that at SAPD headquarters, while Rivera was being interviewed, he told detectives he was asked by a friend about stealing a car for human smuggling. Police say Rivera told them his friends dropped him off and he chose to attack Castaneda because she seemed distracted. Rivera went on to tell officers that he did not mean to shoot the victim, that he just wanted to hit her when she didn’t comply with his demands.
Local officials provided an additional affidavit, outlining another carjacking attack just days before the attack on Castaneda. In that incident a woman leaving a Highway 87 convenience store was attacked while she was putting her small daughter in her car seat. That affidavit says security video from the scene clearly shows the little girl putting her hands up in the air and the woman kneeling down and begging for her assailant to not take her purse.
Investigators say they're looking into recent aggressive robberies of other women as well.
The home address that appears on Rivera’s driver’s license is just a stone’s throw from the East Central ISD administrative offices. A spokesman there says the teen was a student in the district but he withdrew after the 2018-2019 school term. The spokesman said with at least one confirmed attack nearby, they checked and found out no students have reported any concerns related to the incidents, but they stand ready to help anyone who reaches out on the matter.
The district provided the following written response about the programs they have to help students cope with stressful events:
“East Central puts the safety of our kids as our top priority. Here are some programs that the District has in place already: