SAN ANTONIO — Erik Cantu Jr., who was 17 when he was shot by former San Antonio Police Department rookie officer James Brennand in a McDonald's parking lot in 2022, is suing Brennand and the City of San Antonio, according to a report by Texas Public Radio. He filed the suit with Emily Proulx, who was a passenger in his car when the shooting took place.

What You Need To Know

  • Erik Cantu Jr., who was shot by former SAPD rookie officer James Brennand in a McDonald's parking lot in 2022, is suing Brennand and the City of San Antonio
  • Cantu, who sustained critical injuries from the shooting, is being represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump

  • The lawsuit accuses both Brennand and the City of San Antonio of excessive force and racial profiling. Cantu filed the suit with Emily Proulx, who was a passenger in his car when the shooting took place

  • SAPD Chief William McManus was named in the lawsuit as responsible for the internal culture at the police department that led to the shooting

Cantu, who sustained critical injuries from the shooting, is being represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is known for taking on high-profile cases of police killings. The lawsuit accuses both Brennand and the City of San Antonio of excessive force and racial profiling.

The suit alleged racial profiling because the Bexar County district attorney told Cantu’s family after the shooting that Brennand was looking for a Hispanic teen with a bowl haircut.

The incident happened when Cantu was sitting in his car eating a burger outside of a McDonald’s on Oct. 2, 2022, with Poulx. Body camera footage showed Brennand opened Cantu’s driver’s side door and told him to get out. Cantu then put the car in reverse and Brennand shot at his vehicle as it was driven away.

Cantu spent months recovering from injuries to his stomach, diaphragm, lungs, liver and arm that were sustained in the shooting, and at one point was on life support. Proulx was uninjured.

Police have said Brennand believed Cantu’s vehicle was the same one that evaded him during an attempted traffic stop the day before. Brennand believed the vehicle was stolen.

SAPD Chief William McManus fired Brennand two days after the shooting. Brennand was indicted in December 2022 on two counts of aggravated assault by a public servant — because there was a passenger in the vehicle  — and one count of attempted murder.

McManus was named in the lawsuit as responsible for the internal culture at the SAPD that led to the shooting.

Andy Segovia, San Antonio city attorney, denied the claims made against the department in a statement to TPR.

“The San Antonio Police Department’s policies concerning the use of force have consistently been found to be well above the legal standard,” Segovia said. “James Brennand’s actions on that day were clearly inconsistent with SAPD training and policy. The claims asserted are without merit and we will vigorously defend the City in this litigation.”

According to the lawsuit, Cantu and Proulx are seeking damages for past and future medical expenses, pain and suffering, physical impairment and disfigurement, mental anguish, as well as additional punitive damages.