Police are still looking for the suspect who shot at a cowed gathered outside a home on San Antonio’s East Side. Credit: Shutterstock

Apparently, online rumors don’t die easily.

A week after San Antonio police shot holes in a claim making the rounds on social media that a serial killer was at large in the city, national newspaper USA Today‘s Fact Check column has looked into the matter.

On Dec. 9, a Facebook post shared several thousand times claimed without proof that a serial killer active in San Antonio had killed nine women. “Please be careful out there,” the message warned.

Four days later, SAPD issued a statement to local media organizations, including the Current, saying no such case was on its radar. Police officials also tweeted that they had found no “factual basis on these claims.”

Fast forward to Dec. 19, and USA Today‘s Fact Check column explained that more online messages were circulating about a serial killer stalking the Alamo City. The paper reached out to SAPD, which repeated its assurance that such claims are bullshit. (Our bad word, not theirs.)

“Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim a serial killer has murdered nine women in San Antonio,” USA Today explained. “The San Antonio Police Department told USA TODAY it was not aware of any such cases and later issued a statement saying the claim was baseless.”

So, now you’ve heard it. Twice. 

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This article appears in Dec 14-27, 2022.

Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...