A fourth person was injured and hospitalized, Chief William McManus said during a brief press conference, noting that his information was preliminary.
Based on his assessment of the body’s camera images, McManus said an officer in San Antonio had made a traffic stop and had a supposedly casual conversation with the truck’s driver for a few minutes.
The driver then, for reasons unknown, pulled a gun and opened fire, hitting the officer in the hand, McManus said.
The officer retreated backwards as he returned fire, killing both the driver and one passenger and injuring another passenger in the upper body. According to the chief, multiple rounds were fired by both the person in the vehicle and the officer.
The chief said he did not know what prompted the officer to pull over the truck.
“He was an officer patrolling here, (a) routine traffic stop, which turned out not to be that routine after all,” McManus said.
The dead are believed to be men in their mid to late twenties, McManus said.
The officer, a five-year veteran, was taken to a hospital. McManus said he had no information about his condition other than that he could talk.
“I will also say that the officer is very, very lucky to live up close, he was shot in the hand, and not anywhere else more importantly,” said McManus.