Suspected truck thief fatally shot by vehicle owner who tracked him using AirTag, police say

A man suspected of stealing a truck from a residential neighborhood in San Antonio, Texas, was shot and killed by one of the truck’s owners, who had tracked the vehicle using an Apple AirTag, authorities said Wednesday.

The truck was stolen at about 1 p.m. local time from outside a home on the city’s Northside, San Antonio Police Department spokesperson Nick Soliz told reporters in a briefing.

Three members of the family that own the truck used an AirTag to track the vehicle to the parking lot of a strip mall in San Antonio’s Southside neighborhood, Soliz said.

“It looks like they tried to confront the suspect, who they saw in their vehicle,” Soliz said.

Investigators are unclear as to exactly how the shooting transpired, but Soliz said that one of the family members attempted “to contact the suspect in the truck.”

The family member told police he believed “a firearm may have been pulled by the suspect,” prompting him to open fire. But, Soliz said, police do not know if the suspected truck thief had any weapons on him.

“Right now, it’s believed that only the victim of the stolen vehicle fired shots,” Soliz said. “He did strike the suspect in the stolen truck.”

The suspect, a man in his 30s, was later pronounced dead. His name was not immediately released.

It is believed that the truck owners called the police to report the theft before the shooting, but then chose not to wait for officers, according to Soliz.

“If you are to get your vehicle stolen, I know it’s frustrating, but please do not take matters in your own hands like this,” Soliz said.

The names of the person who fired on the suspect and the other two family members were also not immediately released. It’s unclear if the shooter will face any criminal charges, Soliz said.