SAN ANTONIO — Bexar County authorities continue to investigate the killing of a local man at the hands of deputies whose welfare check devolved into a physical, and eventually deadly, struggle. But on Wednesday evening, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office released more information about the trio of deputies involved who, collectively, have more than 50 years' experience with the law enforcement agency.
Damian Daniels, a 30-year-old U.S. military veteran, was fatally shot on August 25 outside his far-west-side home more than 30 minutes after deputies initially arrived at the scene, having been called by concerned members of Daniels's family. Sheriff Javier Salazar has previously said Daniels tried to grab a deputy's taser when they attempted to near him, sparking a two-plus-minute-long skirmish for the handgun under his shirt that ended when one of the deputies decided to use deadly force.
He died at the scene.
BCSO says the deputies involved in the incident are 52-year-old John Rodriguez, who has been with the office for 14 years; 49-year-old Enrique Cepeda, a 23-year veteran of BCSO; and 40-year-old Michelle Garriffa, who joined 16 years ago.
Last week, Salazar said he was "satisfied with the way these deputies handled themselves," adding that they exercised "an immense amount of restraint" before the fatal shots were fired. On Monday, a local attorney said he was working with Daniels's family in reviewing the case, and he hopes to present it to a grand jury down the road, in an attempt to get answers.
Meanwhile, full body cam video of the confrontation has not yet been released by BCSO. Salazar said last week that that would happen as soon as authorities determined it would not impact their investigation.