- Corpus Christi Police Department's Assistant Police Chief David Blackman talks about the city's latest officer-involved shootings.
- Assistant Police Chief Blackman said officer-involved shootings are unpredictable.
- The cases are under investigation.
In the last week, there have been two officer-involved shootings in Corpus Christi that led to the deaths of two men. KRIS 6 spoke with Corpus Christi Assistant Police Chief David Blackman about these incidents and if the community should be concerned.
“Both of those are obviously still under investigation. I will say that the police department we spend a lot of time in the community dealing with crime issues. Unfortunately, no city is immune from random acts of violence. And both of these were random acts. They were unpredictable by the officers,” Blackman said. “And they happen to fall on the same week.”
The first shooting - we reported on - was on Monday, October 21st, on Leopard Street near the city detention center. Two officers were in the midst of paperwork to leave a prisoner when 22-year-old Anthony Rodriguez Jr. was seen shooting in the neighborhood. Rodriguez was seen by witnesses with a handgun that he turned on the officers and began firing at them. One of the officers returned fire, striking the suspect twice. He later died at the hospital from his injuries.
The two officers were placed on administrative leave.
The following day, four SWAT officers were placed on administrative leave when they were called out to the Red Roof Inn on the 6800 block of South Padre Island Drive. The suspect, 22-year-old Christopher Allen Smith Jr., opened fire from inside a hotel room. Police told KRIS 6 that they responded after calls about a man shooting a gun from the balcony towards the pool.
In these two days, a total of six officers were no longer on active patrol shifts.
Does this make a difference on how the police department would respond to other calls?
“No, We’re a large department. We’re a big police department and we will adjust our resources accordingly to make sure that every shift is covered and that there’s no reduction in service that we provide the citizens. Those officers, being off on administrative leave, will not hinder the police response in the community,” Blackman said. “Both of those are obviously still under investigation. I will say that while the police department we spend a lot of time in the community dealing with crime issues. Unfortunately, no city is immune from random acts of violence. And both of these were random acts. They were unpredictable by the officers.”
According to statistic.com, from 2017 to 2024, there have been more than 8,000 people killed in officer-involved shootings in the United States. 828 of those shootings were from 2024.
“Corpus Christi is not an unsafe city, but we can’t predict when we have these acts of violence. We do many things to try to reduce these things, but in the end, when we do have, we respond very quickly to safeguard our community,” Blackman said. “It’s hard to predict when those things will occur. We may not have any of these issues for years, and then we may have several in one year. When these officers get these calls, they respond quickly to safeguard the safety of our residents and, in doing so, to protect themselves. They all have families. They’re very brave. It’s unfortunate.”
The investigations into the city’s latest officer-involved shootings are still ongoing.
Blackman said they are waiting for the coroner’s toxicology report to determine if “alcohol or drugs involved” and the investigation to be completed with the possibility of learning “more on the mental health of these two individuals.”
One of Rodriguez’s family members called KRIS 6, telling us that Rodriguez had been battling depression, which got worse after a close family member’s recent passing. Rodriguez’s parents attempted to get a judge to recognize his depression, but the judge ruled Rodriguez was not a danger to himself or anyone else.
While Blackman did not confirm the status of Rodriguez's mental health nor the latest on the investigation. He reaffirmed that the city was safe, and officers continued to work on keeping it safe. But he understands the citizens may have concerns, especially with these “unpredictable” and “random acts of violence.”
Officers with CCPD continue to spend hours policing the community, but before any officer hits the streets of Corpus Christi, they undergo a “vigorous” police training academy. Once hired by the department, officers spend an additional six months with a seasoned field training officer. A police standard that has been in affect for decades.
But training doesn’t end there.
“We have officers attached to our mental health unit who ride with our mental health professionals. We have bike patrol. We have our crime reduction unit. So, we spend a lot of time trying to find, identify, and address crime issues,” Blackman said.
The assistant police chief said, “Citizens should be concerned. Anytime there’s any type of crime issue in their community, they should ask questions. And they should be concerned until those questions can (be) answered.”
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