San Antonio Police Chief William McManus announced during a news conference on Monday that a series of weekend shootings all involved targeted victims and were not random, but only two of the incidents are believed to be related.
He also suggested the courts do more to keep the streets safe.
McManus said two incidents were related but would not explain further.
He added that innocent bystanders were harmed too. "There is absolutely collateral damage. ... in each one of these shootings ... there was collateral damage."
On Friday at 2 p.m., a drive-by shooting in the 5100 block of Eisenhauer left three wounded and one fatally wounded. A 16-year boy old was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital. The other wounded were described as a 5-year-old boy, 15-year old boy, and 60 year old woman.
McManus said the Eisenhauer Road shootings were "paybacks" related to a fight at Roosevelt High School weeks ago. He said it was not the first attempt on the victim.
On Saturday, a shooting at the Antioch Village Apartments in the 1500 block of Upland Road left behind three victims. Eighteen-year-old Geremiah Hardeman was fatally wounded, but was not the intended target, police said previously. Two others were critically wounded. McManus said unknown suspects fled the scene.
The last in a string of weekend shootings was at 3 p.m. on Sunday at North Star Mall. Two suspects are sought in connection with the shooting that left 32-year old Adam Glass dead inside a barber shop. McManus said they had good leads in the case, including surveillance video.
The chief said the police department is doing its job to make San Antonio safe, noting arrests continued to go up year-after-year, but suggested the court system could do more to protect citizens.
"We so often arrest people who are out on more than one bond," he said. "They are out on probation and they get arrested again and the probation is not revoked and another bond is issued. That is an issue. It's an issue for the police department. It's an issue for every person walking the street."
McManus said in "many cases" there are people walking around "who should be in jail." He said there is evidence based research that shows if someone commits a crime, they have to be held accountable for it, and if not, things will "get out of control."
McManus also blamed shootings in general in San Antonio on easy access to firearms, adding that even people who may not have carried a gun in the past may be carrying one now.
Just hours before that shooting, a rally demanding an end to gun violence took place at San Antonio's Phillis Wheatley Park.
"Everyone is tired of the status quo, and we are just fed up, and we are going to make a change," Amy Kersmar, with Moms Demand Action, told KSAT-TV.
Many at Saturday's rally said they planned to attend a sit in at the U.S. Capitol from June 6-12 to push for a federal assault weapon ban.
