The custodial death report for the fatal shooting of Brandon Cruz by Boerne Police Department Cpl. Cheyenne Weber was released late last month, offering more insight into the events that took place Feb. 21.
State law requires a custodial report be submitted and published on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s website within 30 days of any shooting where an officer or subject is injured or killed.
Weber fatally shot the 41-year-old Cruz at the Carrington Place Apartment Complex the afternoon of Feb. 21 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, and the obituary that ran in The Star noted he was a Boerne resident.
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. This information was corroborated in the death report to the Texas AG’s office.
While the custodial report indicates law enforcement agents received reports Cruz may have had other firearms, the call sheet from that day indicates Gillespie County deputies simply couldn’t confirm from Cruz’s family whether or not he had other weapons.
No weapon was reported found on Cruz’s person or in his vehicle in any of the reports released.
“After a lengthy pursuit, KCSO backed off and Boerne PD officers and Texas DPS attempted to stop Cruz as he entered the city limits of Boerne,” the report reads. “Cruz continued to evade. The officers lost sight of Cruz in the area of the 800 block of Johns Road. After searching the area, a civilian notified the trooper that he saw the vehicle drive to the back of the apartment complex at 825 Johns Road.”
Once BPD officers located Cruz in the parking area at the very back of the apartment complex in his black Mustang with a gold racing stripe down the center, Cruz attempted to flee the scene and struck a trooper’s vehicle in front of him, according to the report. Weber then ordered Cruz out of his vehicle at gunpoint, according to the report.
The report states Cruz failed to obey Weber’s commands and “used his cell phone as a simulated handgun (held in the manner you would a firearm and pointed it at the officer).” Weber realized it was a cell phone and continued to order Cruz out of his vehicle. The report states Cruz
The report states Cruz then “accelerated at a high rate of speed backwards into a Boerne PD unit” before driving forward again toward the state trooper’s vehicle. “In fear of the trooper’s
“In fear of the trooper’s life, the Boerne PD officer (Weber) fired his gun multiple times, striking Cruz multiple times,” the report reads. “Cruz was pronounced dead at the scene.”
It is unclear whether or not the trooper was in the vehicle at the time.
At the scene, Cruz’s driver’s side front end was touching the front end of a trooper’s SUV.
Weber was reported as being out of the BPD vehicle when he fired the shots. No bullet-entry signs were visible on the back or front windshields, back windows or sides of Cruz’s vehicle. Neither of the front windows of Cruz’s vehicle were visible, indicating they may have been rolled down. There was no broken glass at the scene as an indication a window was shot out.
According to both the call sheets and BPD press release, life-saving measures were conducted, including CPR and the application of a tourniquet, but Cruz was pronounced dead at the scene. Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Michele Van Stavern was called to confirm the death. According to the custo
According to the custodial report, an evaluation by a medical examiner was requested but the results could not be obtained by The Star’s Thursday press deadline. An autopsy report would identify whether or not there were traces of any drugs or alcohol in Cruz’s system, which was not mentioned in any of the reports released to the public. After Cruz’s death, the
After Cruz’s death, the report states he committed two crimes, including the lower-level felony of evading arrest or detention with a vehicle and the higher-level felony of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. Presumably, the deadly weapon alleged to have been used by Cruz was his vehicle, but it’s unclear which officer the report is claiming as the victim.
BPD Assistant Police Chief Cody Lackey, who was on the scene investigating, said no officers were injured during the incident.
The Texas Department of Public Safety did not provide any additional information.
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