Three separate shootings happened in San Marcos on the night of Nov. 1-2, causing one death and multiple injuries.
The first happened at around 10 p.m. on Nov. 1. Multiple gunshots were fired in the area of Kissing Alley on Hopkins Street, according to Russell Wilde, public safety communications specialist for the city of San Marcos.
Three people were shot and transported to area hospitals. One person died at the hospital.
“The officer encountered a male victim who had been shot outside of the bar,” Stan Standridge, SMPD police chief, said. “As other officers arrived, they were told a second victim was inside of this same bar after having been shot outside. Within a few minutes, officers learned of yet another victim who was also shot, but he fled to the opposite side of the courthouse.”
The male that died was Ronnie Hernandez Jr., born in 2006. Standridge said Hernandez was shot five to seven times. The second victim, who was found inside the bar, was shot twice in the stomach and shoulder. The third was shot twice in the forearm and the waist. Both are expected to survive.
Police are looking for the suspected shooters, who are both Black males, which Standridge describes as armed and dangerous. One was wearing a black hoodie with white letters, dark pants and dark shoes while the other was wearing a two-tone jacket, dark pants and a beanie. They left downtown driving a four-door Audi A3. Police recovered the vehicle after viewing video from the downtown fire station and using license plate readers, but are still working to identify the suspects.
“Video shows [the suspect] shooting at the group of victims and once several fell to the ground, he then closed distance, went to at least two of [the victims] and shot at them several more times,” Standridge said.
Standridge said police currently do not know the motive or if there were any connection between the two groups.
Madi Angel, anthropology senior, was in Texas Hill Country Vape and Smoke next to Kissing Alley when the shooting occurred. She said her and her friends immediately hid in a back room for safety when the gunshots rang out. She saw the victims after the suspects drove off.
“We heard the car skid off after the shots rang out initially and that’s kind of what indicated that it was a drive-by but we didn’t know if anyone got out or retaliated,” Angel said. “We saw them trying to save the kid and they just kept doing CPR for about 10 minutes.”
Hopkins Street from Guadalupe Street to N LBJ Drive closed for the rest of the night, while SMPD investigated the scene.
“[SMPD] responded so fast, within minutes they were on the scene, so I’m very happy they were that quick, and I’m glad that they blocked everything off,” Angel said. “I know it’s hard to contain a scene when there are so many people around.”
At 1:18 a.m. CDT, Standridge ordered the downtown bars to close for the night to secure the integrity of the scene.
“As more officers arrived on scene to provide medical aid and to secure the large crime scene, the bar district continued to operate,” Standridge said. “This caused significant issues as intoxicated patrons were coming into the clearly marked police area and fights were being reported by various bars.”
This situation made Angel nervous about going to The Square, especially since there was previously a shooting on July 19 that left two people dead.
“If we had been [there] literally a minute later, we could have been shot,” Angel said. “We were right there next to it, so that does not sit very well with me.”
The second shooting happened at around 1:23 a.m. CDT at The Outpost on Post Road. A fight turned into a shooting where one person was shot and taken to the hospital. However, Standridge said blood trails at the scene suggest there may have been two people shot.
The confirmed person that was shot is Jesse Flynn, computer science sophomore, who was attending a party at the apartment clubhouse. He said a fight broke out around the pool where a group of people started punching each other and then pulled out guns.
Flynn said multiple people pulled out their guns but only one shot, as another dropped their magazine before attempting to shoot. The person shot about seven times.
Standridge said detectives have a “strong suspicion” on the shooter’s identity, but there is a second suspect being looked for, as someone else pistol-whipped another person.
“I believe it was the third or fourth bullet that either hit me or ricocheted and hit me in the foot while I was pulling on the door,” Flynn said. “At that point, I didn’t know if anyone else was hit … I turned and I ran as best as I could. My foot was kind of giving out, but I ran around the building.”
Flynn estimates that the altercation lasted between 30-40 seconds from the start of the fight to getting shot.
“It looked like it started from nothing,” Flynn said. “I think literally some guy looked at the other guy wrong and he went over and pushed, then they started throwing fists. It was very quick.”
Flynn’s friends drove him to Christus Santa Rosa Hospital where he ended up getting transferred to Dell Seton at UT Austin. He had a gunshot wound at the top of his foot, a small exit wound at the bottom, shattered bones in the middle of his foot and nerve damage in his third and fourth toe.
“I didn’t feel it immediately, I just kind of felt my foot give out and I started to run,” Flynn said. “I thought a lot of people were dead.”
SMPD and University police met Flynn at the hospital to get his statements. However, since then, the suspects have not been found, leading to confusion for him. He said he reached out to SMPD to talk more about the situation on Monday morning, but they did not respond to him.
“How have you not found them or even identified them at all yet?” Flynn said. “It’s very upsetting, I feel like they should absolutely know who they are.”
The third shooting happened at 1:50 a.m. CST at the intersection of LBJ Drive and Hutchinson Street. As officers were leaving the scene of the first shooting, they heard gunshots on LBJ. Officers arrested 20-year-old Eliezer Johnson Hernandez, and it is unclear if anything was struck by the gunfire. This incident is unrelated to the other shootings, according to Wilde.
Flynn said the three shootings in one night should raise concern about gun safety in San Marcos.
“Why do they have guns?” Flynn said. “I don’t know if they bought them legally but if they bought them illegally, something has to be done.”
According to Standridge, he has not experienced this busy of a night in his five years at San Marcos. He furthered, stating that comparative to the last two-year normal, violent crime is increasing in 2025.
Standridge said there will be additional officers assigned downtown on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
