Woman thanks neighbors for helping stop attacker during standoff on East Side

SAN ANTONIO – A standoff occurred between a suspect and San Antonio police after the suspect attacked a woman at an East Side apartment complex on Monday.

“If the neighbors and my family hadn't come out to help me, I wouldn't be alive because he was trying to stab me with his knife,” the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said in an interview with KSAT.

The hours-long standoff on the East Side began early Monday morning after an armed man was involved in three separate altercations outside his apartment.

The first incident occurred when police responded to a call from landscapers who said a man threatened them with a knife in the 4600 block of Dietrich Road.

When officers arrived, they searched the area, including an apartment where the man may have lived. After attempting to communicate with him for half an hour, officers withdrew and issued an arrest warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Hours later, San Antonio police responded to the same incident again. This time, the suspect allegedly spat on a woman, grabbed her hair and then chased her with a knife, police said.

“He spat at me, so I jumped back and that's when he pulled out the knife,” the woman said.

The victim told KSAT that she called for help as she tried to run into her apartment.

“He pushed me in the back and I fell to my knees, but I quickly got up and kept running and he pushed me to the ground again,” the victim said.

The woman said she fell for the second time at the moment she thought she was going to die. That's when she noticed 10 to 15 of her neighbors coming out and running toward the suspect, screaming.

“They were able to hit him with sticks and throw stones at him, but he did not seem to react to the blows,” the victim said. “When he saw many men coming towards him, he pulled out a gun.”

SAPD said bystanders “came to the rescue.” The suspect then fired a gun into the air, causing residents to run away, police said. He then ran into an apartment unit and refused to come out, police said.

Eventually, a SAPD SWAT team entered the apartment unit and was able to arrest the man.

The unidentified man, who is in his late 20s, faces three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, police said.

The woman KSAT spoke to said she is fine. She has minor scratches from a fall, but her mental health is in a different state.

“I'm scared. I can't sleep well. I close my eyes and see his face and him there with the knife,” said the victim. “That image. I can't get it out of my head.”

She told KSAT that despite the suspect's arrest, she still finds it difficult to go outside.

“I am very grateful to all the neighbors who were able to help me because not everyone would have done that and I am glad that no one else was seriously injured,” the victim said.

Related coverage on KSAT: