Nightmare Scenario: Outnumbered Officer Hit in Shooting Hand and Unable to Call for Backup, Video

For a cop, there is no such thing as a “routine traffic stop.” An interaction with a suspect can turn deadly in an instant, as it did for San Antonio, Texas, police Officer Tyler Sauvage on a late morning traffic stop on the west side of San Antonio on April 16.

A San Antonio Police Department policy went into effect in December that requires the department to release body camera footage from all officer involved shootings within 60 days.

According to a KSAT-TV report and the accompanying police department video, Officer Sauvage pulled over a blue pickup truck and approached the vehicle. The driver and front-seat passenger were both men. A woman was seated in the back.

The officer said he smelled marijuana and asked the driver, later identified as Sammy Barbosa, 33, to step out of the car.

Barbosa said that he had smoked marijuana earlier, but did not have any in his possession. He still refused, although calmly, to get out of the car.

The narrator of the video, San Antonio Police Lt. Jesse Salame, said the front seat passenger, later identified as Alex Garcia, 25, is heard asking the back-seat passenger for a gun.

In an instant, the front seat passenger opened fire on the officer. Sauvage was hit on the finger of his right hand. He took cover behind his police vehicle and accidentally dropped his gun. With a bloody hand, he retrieved his weapon.

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