SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The suspect who allegedly shot and killed three co-workers at a landscape supply business in San Antonio on November 8 has been identified by authorities as an illegal alien who entered the United States as a minor in 2019. The suspect, 21-year-old Jose David Hernandez-Galo, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on the day of the shooting.
According to the San Antonio Police Department, three employees of a landscaping company located in the 4400 block of Stahl Road were fatally shot just before 8 a.m. on Saturday. Several other employees were able to flee from the scene and avoid injury. Police identified the deceased employees as 48-year-old Selvin Chacon, his 38-year-old brother Sergio Chacon, and 24-year-old Karen Bautista.
According to a report by KSAT News, suspect Jose Hernandez-Galo, who was also an employee of the company, arrived at the worksite and began to shoot other employees. All three victims of the shooting were pronounced deceased at the scene. According to San Antonio police officials, shortly before noon, the suspect, Jose Hernandez-Galo, was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound a short distance from the business.
Authorities with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have issued a statement indicating the deceased suspect was in the United States illegally. According to ICE, Hernandez-Galo illegally entered the United States in April 2019. Hernandez-Galo, according to ICE, was a minor at the time and was accompanied by other family members.
Hernandez-Galo and his family were apprehended by the Border Patrol and subsequently released with an order to appear for an immigration removal hearing. According to ICE, Hernandez-Galo and other family members have not reported their whereabouts to the agency since 2022.
In 2019, more than 800,000 illegal aliens were apprehended crossing the southwest border. Despite strict immigration policies in place under the Trump administration to swiftly remove illegal aliens arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, federal court orders regarding the detention of unaccompanied alien children and those accompanied by family members forced the administration to release thousands into the United States.
A 2015 court reinterpretation of an existing consent decree related to the detention of unaccompanied illegal alien children by Federal District Judge Dolly Gee expanded the coverage of detention restrictions to include illegal alien minors who were part of a family unit as well.
The reinterpretation of the existing 1997 consent decree limited the time an illegal alien minor, unaccompanied or accompanied, could be detained by the Department of Homeland Security to no more than 20 days. The ruling resulted in the release of thousands of illegal aliens across the southwest border in 2019, as lengthy, complicated asylum adjudications could not be accomplished in such a short timeframe. In 2019, more than 800,000 illegal aliens were arrested by the Border Patrol along the U.S.-Mexico border; at times, nearly 60 percent of those apprehended during some months were part of a family unit.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
