San Antonia, TX: Man kills brother, then later himself In between shootings, he takes own wife hostage and flees.

By Michelle Mondo, mmondo@express-news.net
Updated 11:11 p.m., Saturday, December 31, 2011

An argument between two brothers led one of the men to shoot and kill the other, then hold his own wife hostage and shoot her in the foot before turning the gun on himself, officials said.

The Saturday morning shooting capped a violent week in Bexar County in which five people were killed or found dead, not including two killers who committed suicide. The toll included another domestic violence slaying Wednesday in which a man shot and killed his ex-wife and her older brother before killing himself.

Bexar County sheriff's Sgt. Raymond Pollard said the argument Saturday between brothers Enrique and Emilio Garcia might have been over a woman.

It started when one confronted the other at a home in the 2000 block of Blue Wing Road in Southeast Bexar County and ended in gunfire outside the home at 11:34 a.m., leaving Enrique Garcia dead and Emilio Garcia on the run.

Pollard said other family members there, including four children ages 6 to 13, were not injured.

The Bexar County medical examiner's office said Enrique Garcia, 31, was shot multiple times and died at the scene.

Officials said Emilio Garcia, 37, drove back to his house, where he forced his wife to get in a truck and go with him to a property in Wilson County on County Road 164, according to Bexar County sheriff's Lt. Martin Molina.

A DPS helicopter monitored the situation from above as a SWAT team and negotiators tried to make contact, Molina said.

As the helicopter hovered, the man was seen by the pilot shooting into the air, possibly at the aircraft. He then shot his wife in the foot, officials said, and held the gun to her head.

Eventually, he put the gun to his own head and fired, Molina said.

He was flown to San Antonio Military Medical Center, where he died around 9:30 p.m.

Molina said the recent spate of violence is unusual.

Up until Wednesday, the sheriff's office had worked eight murder cases this year. Since then, the county has seen more than one homicide per day — the double murder Wednesday; a woman found shot to death Thursday in North Bexar County; a man found dead Friday in South Bexar County; and Saturday's slaying.

Molina said investigators had leads on the cases involving the woman and the man.

“You just can't tell,” he said. “A lot of times with holidays, emotions are high.”