Erik Cantu, pictured above, spent weeks on life support after being shot in the stomach, diaphragm, lungs, liver, bicep and forearm. Credit: GoFundMe / Support for Erik Cantu

The San Antonio teenager shot multiple times by an on-duty police officer last year in a McDonald’s parking lot was arrested on a felony warrant over the weekend, according to KSAT.

Erik Cantu Jr. was 17 years old when he was shot in the stomach, diaphragm, lungs, liver, bicep and forearm by then-SAPD officer James Brennand on Oct. 2, 2022. The incident grabbed national headlines.

Body-cam video released by SAPD showed Brennand whip open the driver-side door of Cantu’s car, surprising the teen. After the car rolled backward in the clip, the officer was seen firing five shots. He then unloaded five more as Cantu attempted to flee the parking lot.

Cantu, who spent weeks in the hospital on life support, was arrested on Saturday on a felony warrant, reports KSAT.

Police were called to Cantu’s girlfriend’s mother’s apartment at around 8 p.m. Saturday after the woman reported that he had showed up at the residence uninvited and would not leave, according to the report.

Upon arrival, SAPD officers found Cantu passed out in one of the apartment’s bedrooms and arrested him on an outstanding warrant for evading arrest, stemming from an incident before the shooting, according to KSAT.

That warrant states that on Sept. 8, Cantu failed to stop and pull over when ordered to do so by an on-duty bike cop near East Market and Navarro streets, according to paperwork obtained by KSAT. Instead, Cantu sped off and out of downtown, the warrant reportedly states.

The warrant for Cantu’s arrest over that incident was issued on Oct. 26 while he was still recovering at University Hospital after the police shooting.

Cantu was booked on the felony charge and has since bonded out of jail, according to KSAT.

Brennand was fired mere days after shooting Cantu and was later indicted on two counts of aggravated assault by a public servant and one count of attempted murder. His trial is set to start on Dec. 8, KSAT reports.

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This article appears in Nov 1-14, 2023.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...