iStock/Thinkstock(SAN ANTONIO) — Texas authorities are hunting for the gunman who is accused of killing a detective this weekend while he was writing a traffic ticket to a driver.
Authorities called the attack “targeted,” and likened the shootings to similar ones that took place in Dallas, Texas and Baton Rouge this past July.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus has identified the deceased as Benjamin Marconi, 50, who was a 20-year veteran of the force. Marconi was close to police headquarters at the time he was shot.
San Antonio Police DepartmentThe shooting allegedly unfolded when the suspect pulled up in what police described as a black Mitsubishi Galant with custom rims behind Marconi’s cruiser. The suspect exited his car, walked over to Marconi and opened fire, shooting the detective in the head through the window as he was writing a ticket, according to McManus.
The gunman then reached through the window, and fired a second gunshot at the officer, McManus said. He returned to his vehicle and sped away, fleeing the vicinity of the police station in the Galant.
Police posted an update on Facebook with photos of the suspect, seeking information on his whereabouts. They described him as a black male with a goatee, and possibly tattoos on his left arm.
A $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.
Police scanner recordings offer a frightening account of what took place, and indicate that the attack took place in the vicinity of police headquarters.
“I’ve got an officer down in front of headquarters,” the voice on the recording said. “Black male in a black Nissan. I need EMS right now in front of headquarters.”
The San Antonio PD posted a photo of a man on its Facebook page, asking for help identifying him and saying he “might have information on the murder.”
The shooting comes in what has been a year of heightened tensions surrounding police.
Following the widely covered police shooting deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota, a gunman killed five police officers in Dallas who were protecting a protest rally.
Also in July, a man wearing a ski mask and armed with two rifles and a pistol killed three officers near a gas station and convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Earlier this month, Scott Michael Greene of Urbandale, Iowa, allegedly shot and killed two police officers in an ambush-style attack.
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