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Steven D. Primm

Age : 35

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 08/13/2021

Location : 4900 block Wycliff

City : San Antonio

County : Bexar

State : Texas

Agency : San Antonio Police Department

Officer(s) :Jesus Hernandez; Darius Wilson-Wayne

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police during confrontation

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/13/2021, San Antonio Police Department Officer Jesus Hernandez shot and killed 35-year-old Steven D. Primm after police pursued Primm by bicycle, vehicle and on foot through an East Side neighborhood. Officer Darius Wilson-Wayne also exchanged gunfire with Primm earlier in the pursuit and was shot in both legs. Critically, body-camera footage released two months later established that Primm had discarded his handgun and was unarmed when Hernandez fired the fatal shots.
At approximately 3:20 p.m., police received a 911 call concerning an argument involving several men outside a convenience store in the 4500 block of Lakewood Drive near WW White Road. The caller alleged that one of the men had produced a handgun and threatened to shoot the others. Police subsequently identified that man as Primm.
Hernandez responded and saw Primm riding a bicycle with a backpack matching the description provided by the caller. According to the later custodial-death report, Hernandez did not immediately attempt to physically stop Primm because he believed Primm was armed and they were near an elementary school. Hernandez followed him and twice lost sight of him.
Primm eventually abandoned the bicycle and continued on foot through alleys and residential property in the 4900 block of Wycliff Drive. Wilson-Wayne, another responding officer, encountered him and began pursuing him on foot.
According to police and the subsequently released body-camera recording, Primm fired at Wilson-Wayne during this portion of the pursuit. Wilson-Wayne was struck twice in his lower extremities. Wilson-Wayne returned fire, and police initially believed he may also have struck Primm. Wilson-Wayne survived and was treated at Brooke Army Medical Center.
Hernandez returned to his patrol vehicle and drove toward Primm's last reported location. He located him near a car wash and continued trying to intercept him as Primm ran through the area.
What happened next became substantially clearer when SAPD released body-camera footage on 10/13/2021.
During his continued flight from police, Primm discarded the handgun. Investigators subsequently recovered it on the roof of a nearby residence. Thus, although Primm had allegedly fired the weapon and wounded Wilson-Wayne earlier in the encounter, he no longer possessed it when Hernandez encountered him during the final confrontation.
Primm emerged from behind a building and suddenly encountered Hernandez. Video shows Primm momentarily stop in front of the officer. Hernandez believed Primm remained armed and opened fire.
Primm was unarmed.
SAPD Lieutenant Michelle Ramos expressly acknowledged that fact when the department released its video: investigators determined after the shooting that Primm did not have the firearm when Hernandez shot him. The gun was subsequently located on the nearby rooftop.
Primm died at the scene.
This substantially changes the picture provided by the first-day reporting. Initial accounts understandably compressed the incident into a sequence in which Primm allegedly shot one officer and was then shot by another. The later evidence establishes an important separation between those events: Primm allegedly shot Wilson-Wayne, continued running, discarded his gun, and was later encountered and fatally shot by Hernandez while unarmed.
SAPD released Hernandez's body-camera recording and portions of the 911 call under the department's Critical Incident Video Release policy approximately two months after the killing. The video provided independent evidence of the final encounter and confirmed that Hernandez's decision to fire rested on his belief that Primm still possessed the gun rather than on Primm actually having a weapon in his hands at that moment.
SAPD investigated the shooting administratively and its Shooting Team and Internal Affairs Unit were involved in the review. The Bexar County District Attorney's Office was also responsible for reviewing the shooting for potential criminal liability.
The public record located for this update does not show that Hernandez was criminally charged for killing Primm, nor was a subsequent civil judgment or settlement located arising from Primm's death.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Jesus Hernandez was a veteran San Antonio Police Department officer with approximately 16 years of service when he killed Primm. Hernandez was the officer who initially located and followed Primm and later fired the fatal shots. The most important subsequent evidence concerning Hernandez's actions is SAPD's own body-camera release confirming that Primm was unarmed when Hernandez shot him.Darius Wilson-Wayne had approximately one year with SAPD when the incident occurred. He was the officer who pursued Primm on foot and exchanged gunfire with him before Hernandez's later fatal encounter. Wilson-Wayne suffered gunshot wounds to both legs, returned fire and survived.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/13/watch-live-san-antonio-police-to-provide-info-on-east-side-shooting/
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/17/sapd-names-officers-involved-in-east-side-pursuit-fatal-shooting-of-suspect/
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/10/13/sapd-releases-video-of-police-fatally-shooting-man-who-shot-officer-twice/
https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/suspect-named-officer-involved-shooting-16393021.php
https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Man-killed-by-police-had-ditched-gun-after-firing-16441511.php
https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Body-camera-footage-fatal-shooting-San-Antonio-16531346.php