San Antonio CBS affiliate KENS had to retract a story it aired Wednesday and Thursday about a man who was shot by police while he was eating a hamburger in a McDonald’s parking lot.
Erik Cantu is on life support after being shot by now former police officer James Brennard. At the time of the shooting, Brennard told dispatchers he thought Cantu’s car was the same car that fled from him the day before. Bodycam footage showed Brennard firing on Cantu after opening the door to his car.
KENS twice interviewed a man identified as Jesus Salazar who said that he was Cantu’s cousin and gave an update on Cantu’s condition.
“Erik’s mother and father do not know who this person is,” Brian Powers, an attorney for the family, said in a statement to the San Antonio Current. “We don’t know this person’s motives in passing himself off as a family member, but it has caused added stress to this family’s life right now.
Here’s KENS retraction:
On Wednesday night and Thursday morning, KENS 5 aired a story with an interview from a man who contacted us claiming to be the cousin of Erik Cantu.
This morning, a lawyer representing Cantu’s family contacted KENS 5 and told us that this man is not a relative of Cantu and the family has no idea who he is.
In the story that aired Wednesday night, the man made several claims about the case and Cantu’s condition.
Based on information from the Cantu family lawyer and other information we’ve been able to uncover over the last several hours, we are retracting the report.
The story did not meet our editorial standards, and we apologize to the Cantu family and our viewers.
Brennard was fired shortly after the shooting and has been charged charged with two counts of aggravated assault for shooting Cantu.