The man fatally shot inside a Northeast Side home after a break-in this week lived just down the street.
William Frederick, 20, died of shotgun wounds to the torso, the medical examiner’s office said Thursday.
Investigators listed his address just several houses down the street from where he was killed late Tuesday in the 5800 block of Royal Club.
San Antonio police said a house sitter shot the young man after catching him in the living room.
The homeowners had been out of town, and their son and another person were spending the night there because someone had stolen jewelry and a car over the previous weekend, a police report states.
It remained unclear Friday which house sitter did the shooting or whether Frederick was armed. He apparently had driven to the home in a Lexus stolen there two days earlier, police said. A woman who answered the door at his house declined comment.
Neighbors said the area had been hit hard by burglars this month. Some were shocked to learn the man shot Tuesday lived on their street. They would have noticed the stolen Lexus if he’d parked it at his residence, they said.
“It’s all just so strange,” said J. Hill, 62, who lives several houses down from Frederick. “I’ve been here two years and have never had any problems. This is such a quiet area. People walk their pets — 2, 3, 4 in the morning.”
Sandra Cantu, 46, who lives near where the shooting occurred, said she’s still afraid. Her feelings can be summed up, she said, by the fact that she bought her first gun Thursday and will be learning how to use it.
“Just to think that he lived on the same street is scary.” Cantu said. “I don’t plan on moving, but it’s unfortunate to think I had to go to these means to protect myself. … He knew the neighborhood so well.”
A few houses away, Barbara Dickson, 80, said the situation was unfortunate for everyone involved.
“Nobody wishes this on anybody,” said Dickson, who has lived in the area 10 years. “It’s sad, but you don’t go robbing people, and you don’t go back to the scene of the crime.”