Video shows moment Texas cop shot dead boy, 13, driving stolen car

Newly-released video shows the moment a 13-year-old boy driving a stolen car was shot dead by a Texas police officer after he hit another cop’s vehicle — and his family is now arguing the encounter did not justify the use of deadly force.

Andre Hernandez Jr. was shot by San Antonio Police Officer Stephen Ramos while the teen was driving a stolen red Toyota Corolla along with two other juveniles on June 3, 2022,

Ramos and two officers – identified only as Espinoza and Claire – were responding to reports of gunfire and loud music around 1 a.m. in the Southwest Side community of Indian Creek

Footage obtained by the San Antonio Express-News shows the officers pursuing the Toyota Corolla, which backs away from Ramos’ vehicle and pulls into a driveway.

“Don’t let him ram you!” Ramos yells at Espinoza, who stops his Chevrolet Tahoe patrol vehicle, opens the door and puts his left leg out on the side.

“Let me see your hands!” Espinoza yells and puts his leg back inside as the Corolla hits his vehicle.

A couple of seconds later, Ramos gets out of his car and opens fire, video shows.

“I’m shot, sir,” Andre says after he exits the vehicle and falls to the ground.

Ramos checks Andre, rushes to his patrol car to get his medical kit and begins to administer first aid. The boy was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, which reviewed the shooting, said it was a “tragedy” that a minor was killed, but that Andre’s age “was not known by Officer Ramos at the time, nor does it mitigate the threat to Officer Espinoza.”

“It was reasonable for Officer Ramos to believe that Officer Espinoza was standing outside of his vehicle and was therefore being threatened with deadly force by the red Toyota as it accelerated towards him,” a memo detailing the DA’s review states, according to the Express News.

“These facts led Officer Ramos to believe that Officer Espinoza was being threatened with deadly force. Thus he used deadly force to prevent unjustified harm to Officer Espinoza in accordance with” the Texas Penal Code, the outlet added.

The evidence was presented to a grand jury, which declined to bring criminal charges against Ramos.

Attorney Lee Merritt, who is representing the family, said they are “very frustrated” by the grand jury’s decision and are pursuing a federal civil rights lawsuit in the case.

“This officer has killed two human beings, he has no business in the profession of policing,” Merritt said.

He contended that the Corolla was moving too slowly to pose a danger to Espinoza.

 “Those cars were never going more than five miles per hour and AJ Hernandez never represented a deadly threat to anyone,” Merritt told news station KEN5

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