‘JUST MUTILATED’

Teen Shot by Texas Cop in McDonald’s Parking Lot Now Fighting Pneumonia: Family

Erik Cantu remains hospitalized after the Oct. 2 shooting, with his family saying in their first public comments this month that the 17-year-old isn’t responding well to treatment.

More than three weeks after a Hispanic teenager eating in a McDonald’s parking lot was shot by a now-former San Antonio police officer, his family stepped forward to provide an update on his fight for survival. Erik Cantu’s parents, Erik Cantu Sr. and Victoria Casarez, were accompanied by famed attorney Ben Crump during their remarks on Tuesday, which were punctuated by calls to charge the onetime officer, James Brennand, with attempted murder. (Brennand currently faces two counts of aggravated assault, and is out on $200,000 bail ahead of a Nov. 23 pre-trial hearing.) “He’s just mutilated,” an emotional Casarez said, explaining that her son had had four bullets removed from his body so far. At least one, lodged near his heart, remains. Cantu’s father said that the 17-year-old was battling pneumonia and a fever, and wasn’t responding well to treatment. “It hurts us to see our son that way,” Casarez added. “I thought I would be able to speak about his injuries, I thought I could be strong and do this, but I don’t think I can.”