CNN
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The former San Antonio police officer who shot an unarmed 17-year-old eating in his car at a McDonald’s parking lot last week is facing two counts of aggravated assault by a public servant, the police department announced Tuesday.
The officer, identified as James Brennand, turned himself in to San Antonio Police Tuesday night, Police Chief William McManus said at a Tuesday news conference.
Brennand’s arrest comes days after he was fired in connection with the October 2 shooting that left the teenager in critical condition. Brennand did not respond to requests for comment from CNN prior to his arrest. It was not clear Tuesday night whether he had an attorney.
The chief said an aggravated assault charge was filed for each person who was in the car – the driver and a passenger.
The shooting itself “was unjustified, both administratively and criminally,” McManus said. “There was a criminal component to this, that’s why we investigated as a criminal offense.”
The police department has been in contact with the district attorney’s office, which may need more information before it takes the case to the grand jury, the chief noted.
“We worked on this for several days to get to this point where we could submit a warrant to a judge for signature, and that’s where we are right now,” McManus added.
McManus has said it was clear from the beginning that the shooting was “not justified.” He previously said that the aggravated assault charges could rise to homicide if the 17-year-old does not survive.
“The video was horrific,” the chief previously told CNN’s Brianna Keilar. “There is no question in anybody’s mind looking at that video that the shooting is not justified.”
McManus said he recognized an issue immediately upon arriving to the scene of the shooting, based on the location of the bullet holes.
“We have a policy that prohibits officers from shooting at vehicles, moving vehicles, except if their life is in immediate – their life or someone else’s life – is in immediate danger,” he said.
“When I saw it, the location of the bullet holes, I had an issue with it right away. You can tell by looking at the vehicles, which way the vehicle is moving when the shots are fired, and this vehicle, it was very telling to me, that this vehicle was moving away from the officer, and moving parallel with the officer, so it was pretty clear to me at that point that we were going to have an issue,” McManus said.
The announcement of charges come a week after Brennand, a probationary officer with seven months of experience, shot Erik Cantu as the teenager sat in his car eating fast food.
According to police, Brennand was handling an unrelated disturbance call at the McDonald’s when he saw a car he believed had evaded police the previous day and called for backup.
Before backup officers arrived, body camera video released by police shows the officer walk up to the driver’s side of the car, open the door, and order the driver out. The visibly startled teen, who was in the driver’s seat eating, put the car in reverse and started backing up.
The police officer then opened fire five times on the car, according to the video. As the driver shifted the vehicle to move forward, body camera video showed the officer opening fire an additional five times as the car drove away.
Cantu was shot multiple times and is in critical condition and on a life support system, his family said Monday. A passenger in the vehicle was unhurt.
When asked about the officers’ training on Tuesday, McManus stressed that what happened goes against the department’s policies.
“This was a was a…