Boerne Police Department Cpl. Cheyenne Weber fatally shot 41-year-old Brandon Cruz at the Carrington Place Apartment Complex Monday afternoon after a pursuit from Gillespie County took place earlier in the day.
A press release from the Boerne Police Department stated Cruz was a Bexar County resident. A search indicated his Ford Mustang is registered to an address in Boerne owned by Eduardo Cruz.
Information from the BPD call sheets and the press release indicate a suicide threat was made by Cruz at a nursing home in Gillespie County when Cruz allegedly placed his father’s gun in his own mouth. His father reportedly was able to get the gun away from Cruz before he began his journey to Boerne.
According to the call sheet, the Gillespie County Sheriff’s Office was unable to determine whether or not Cruz may have been armed with another weapon once the gun was retrieved by his father, but no weapon was reported being found on Cruz in any of the information from the city or police reports.
After a chase on Farm-to-Market Road 1376 from Gillespie County into Boerne, along North Main Street and onto School Street, the call sheets indicated the state troopers and Kendall County deputies in pursuit pulled back after failed attempts to stop Cruz. During the chase, Cruz was clocked going as fast as 105 mph before going 80 miles per hour in oncoming traffic on Johns Road, the call sheet stated.
By 2:05 p.m., the call sheet indicates officers suspected Cruz was at the apartment complex. Less than two minutes later, Weber reported to dispatch he had fired his weapon.
According to the BPD release, a Boerne police officer and state trooper located Cruz at the back of the apartment complex, and ordered him out of his vehicle. The release stated Cruz failed to comply, revved his engine and quickly backed up and crashed into a Boerne Police vehicle.
The view of the scene from outside the area marked off for the investigation appeared to show no visible damage to the back of Cruz’s car, and the nearest Boerne Police vehicle looked to be a few feet behind it with no visible damage to its front end.
The front left driver’s side of Cruz’s black Mustang, which had a gold racing stripe down the center, was touching the front of a Department of Public Safety vehicle near the throughway at the back of the apartment complex.
The driver’s side door of the Mustang was open with nearly 20 evidence tags on the ground, marking things like a pair of scissors, a roll of gauze, a lanyard with keys, what appeared to be a toiletry travel bag left open and other indistinguishable items.
According to the BPD press release, Weber, who was standing outside of the Boerne Police vehicle Cruz allegedly backed into, discharged his weapon, striking Cruz multiple times. A resident of the apartment complex told The Star at the scene she heard five gunshots after an engine revved.
At the scene, there appeared to be no visible gunshots on the exterior of the vehicle, windows or windshields, indicating Weber may have shot Cruz through the driver’s side window, which appeared to have been rolled down.
According to both the call sheets and BPD press release, life-saving measures were conducted, including CPR and the application of a torniquet, but Cruz was pronounced dead at the scene. Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Michele Van Stavern was called to confirm the death.
Numerous law enforcement agents and vehicles cycled through as the investigation carried into the evening hours, with the Boerne Fire Department even arriving with an industrial freestanding light rig as the sun began to set. According to the Boerne Police Department call sheet for Monday, the incident began at about 2 p.m. and law enforcement didn’t clear the scene until nearly midnight.
As is common practice with officer-involved shootings, the Texas Rangers took over the investigation, ensuring there is oversight when determining whether or not excessive force was used. Weber was placed on administrative duties per department policy.
This is not Weber’s first encounter with an excessive force investigation. In 2020, Weber was accused of excessive force when he pulled a 21-year-old woman out of her vehicle for failure to identify herself. The incident was captured on a police vehicle dash cam.
City officials at the time stated that while the dash cam footage “didn’t look good,” he acted with a reasonable amount of force.
Attempts to reach the Texas Department of Public Safety for any additional information were unsuccessful.
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