A suspect has been arrested in connection with the killing of San Antonio police detective Benjamin Marconi. Police say Otis Tyrone McKane is the man whose image was release Sunday and also say they have found the car seen pulling up behind Marconi’s patrol car while he was writing a ticket.
McKane spoke to media as he was being led to jail Monday night. Asked by a reporter why he shot Marconi, McKane replied, “I just want to see my son.”
“Society not letting me see my son. I lashed out at somebody that didn’t deserve it,” McKane said. Asked if he knew Marconi, McKane said, “No, sir.” McKane then repeated what he’d said earlier, “I’ve been through several custody battles, and I was upset with the situation I was in; I lashed out at someone who didn’t deserve it.” Finally, McKane was asked if he had anything to say to Officer Marconi’s family. “I’m sorry,” McKane replied.
Here’s the video showing the police announcement of the arrest and McKane’s statement to reporters:
Officer Marconi is just one of four police officers who were shot Sunday. From the Associated Press:
In Missouri, a St. Louis police sergeant was shot twice in the face Sunday evening while he sat in traffic in a marked police vehicle. He was released from a hospital Monday.
Law enforcement officials say there’s been an alarming spike in ambush-style attacks. Sixty officers, including the San Antonio detective, were shot to death on the job this year, compared with 41 in all of 2015, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Of the 60 killed, 20 were purposely targeted by their assailant compared with eight last year, the group said.
Police officers also were shot and injured during traffic stops in Sanibel, Florida, and Gladstone, Missouri, on Sunday night, but authorities have not suggested those were targeted attacks. All the shootings come less than five months after a black military veteran killed five white officers at a protest in Dallas — the deadliest day for American law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001.
So it’s looking like this was a case of a police officer being targeted for wearing the uniform. While the police officer shot was white and the shooter was black, police are not saying that race was a motive in this shooting. In fact, in the press conference announcing the arrest, the police chief said the motive for the killing was still unknown. That seems odd given that McKane seemed ready to essentially confess to the crime and the motive on his way to jail. You can see the police chief’s statement about one minute in to this CNN clip:
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