James Brennand’s Shooting of Erik Cantu: Charges and Civil Case

Former San Antonio police officer James Brennand is scheduled to stand trial in Bexar County beginning with jury selection on or around July 20, 2026, on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a public servant and one count of attempted murder for shooting seventeen-year-old Erik Cantu ten times in a McDonald’s parking lot on October 2, 2022.¹² The aggravated-assault counts are first-degree felonies, and a conviction carries a maximum of life in prison.³

What the Charges Are Based On

Brennand, then a probationary officer roughly seven months out of the San Antonio Police Training Academy, was responding to an unrelated disturbance call at a west-side McDonald’s when he spotted a car he believed had evaded him during a traffic stop days earlier.⁴⁵ Erik Cantu was in the driver’s seat eating a hamburger; his girlfriend, Emily Proulx, sat in the passenger seat.⁶

Body-camera footage shows Brennand walking to the driver’s side, opening the door, and ordering Cantu out. Cantu put the car in reverse. Brennand fired five rounds as the vehicle reversed, then fired five more as the car shifted into drive and moved away.⁴ Cantu was unarmed. He was struck in the stomach, diaphragm, lungs, liver, bicep, and forearm, spent about six weeks on life support, and still has a bullet lodged near his heart that doctors decided not to remove.⁷

SAPD fired Brennand three days after the shooting. Chief William McManus called it “unjustified, both administratively and criminally” and identified two failures: Brennand had placed himself in front of the open car door, and the second volley of five shots, fired as the vehicle drove away, could not be justified under department policy.⁸ Because Brennand had not completed his one-year probation, the San Antonio Police Officers’ Association confirmed he had no right to union representation or the internal appeal available to tenured officers.⁹

The Indictment and Bond

Brennand turned himself in on October 11, 2022, and was booked on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a public servant. He posted $200,000 in bond, $100,000 per count, and was released the same night.¹⁰ A Bexar County grand jury indicted him on December 1, 2022, on the two aggravated-assault counts and added a count of attempted murder.¹ He remains free on bond.¹¹

Where the Case Stands

Trial was originally expected in early 2026 but slipped after attorneys in the case were tied up with a separate month-long murder trial. A defense request for a further delay was denied in the fall of 2025.¹²³ The case is assigned to Judge Joel Perez of Bexar County’s 437th Criminal District Court.¹³

Several pretrial rulings have narrowed what jurors will and will not see:

Prosecutors asked to show the jury Brennand’s military tattoos, arguing they “could reflect aggression.” Judge Perez denied the request.¹³
Prosecutors also sought to bring Cantu’s BMW into the courtroom. Judge Perez denied that too, ruling that body-camera video would give the jury an adequate view of the car.¹⁴
At an April 2026 hearing the prosecution asked that prior testimony from Emily Proulx not be considered. Defense attorney Jay Norton said he believed the testimony was “relevant” but did not formally object.³
In October 2025 the judge and both legal teams finalized a juror questionnaire designed to screen for existing opinions about Brennand or Cantu.¹⁵
On May 11, 2026, Judge Perez signed a protective order giving both sides access to sensitive law-enforcement records while restricting their public release.¹⁵

At a June 22, 2026, pretrial hearing, both sides agreed to postpone challenges to the qualifications of the state’s expert witnesses until trial. Judge Perez warned that if those challenges cause significant delay in front of the jury, he would consider excluding the witnesses. Prosecutor Neal Cordero described the state’s witness list as “lengthy” and said the prosecution would trim it before trial. The state plans to call several SAPD patrol officers as use-of-force experts along with detectives who were at the scene.²

Jury selection is set for on or around July 20, 2026, and the trial is expected to last more than two weeks.²

The Civil Case Is Separate

Cantu and Proulx sued the City of San Antonio and Brennand on April 12, 2024, alleging excessive force and racial profiling and naming Chief McManus in connection with department training and discipline. The city denied the claims, with City Attorney Andy Segovia calling Brennand’s actions “clearly inconsistent with SAPD training and policy.”⁶ A judge allowed the excessive-force claim and a claim of a pattern of failing to investigate and discipline excessive force to proceed, dismissing the rest. The civil case is expected to move forward after the criminal trial concludes.¹⁶

Cantu’s Own Arrests Since the Shooting

Cantu has been arrested six times between mid-2023 and late 2025, picking up two felony evading-arrest charges, a misdemeanor assault, and a second-degree felony burglary charge from a December 2025 incident at the home of his child’s mother.¹⁷¹⁸ These arrests all occurred after the 2022 shooting and do not bear on whether Brennand’s use of deadly force was justified under the law.¹¹

1
ABC News. Grand Jury Indicts Former San Antonio Police Officer
2
San Antonio Express-News. James Brennand Trial Hearing
3
KSAT. Former SAPD Officer Set to Make Court Appearance
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CNN. San Antonio Police Officer Fired After Shooting Unarmed 17-Year-Old
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San Antonio Express-News. James Brennand Officer Who Shot Erik Cantu
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Texas Public Radio. Erik Cantu Jr. Sues San Antonio Over 2022 Police Shooting
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KSAT. Erik Cantu Jr. Rehospitalized for Complications After Being Shot by SAPD Officer
8
San Antonio Report. SAPD Rookie Officer Termination Shooting Teenager
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ABC News. San Antonio Police Officer Fired After Shooting 17-Year-Old at McDonald’s
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NBC DFW. Fired San Antonio Cop Charged in Teen’s Shooting Posts Bond
11
KSAT. Ex-San Antonio Police Officer James Brennand Scheduled to Make Pre-Trial Court Appearance
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San Antonio Express-News. Bexar County Criminal Cases 2026
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Fox San Antonio. Former San Antonio Police Officer James Brennand Back in Court
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San Antonio Express-News. Erik Cantu James Brennand Trial
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News 4 San Antonio. Former San Antonio Police Officer James Brennand Back in Court for Pre-Trial Hearing
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News 4 San Antonio. San Antonio Judge Allows Parts of Lawsuit Over Officer-Involved Shooting to Proceed
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San Antonio Express-News. Erik Cantu Sentenced
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KSAT. Erik Cantu Receives 2-Year Deferred Adjudication Sentence