An off-duty Balcones Heights, Texas police officer was fatally shot while closing up shop at a tattoo parlor he owns in San Antonio on Sunday.
Police say that Officer Julian Pesina was ambushed in a parking lot around 10 p.m. by two masked men who shot him multipule times with a shotgun and a handgun, according to The San Antonio Express-News.
The two suspects fled the scene and were still being sought as of Monday. San Antonio Sgt. Joe McKinney told the newspaper that police did not know the identities of the men or their motives.
The tattoo shop, called Notorious Ink, is in the 2800 block of Hillcrest Drive, a block away from the Balcones Heights city limits. Officials say that Pesina went to the business after his shift ended at 6 p.m.
"We got a call for shots fired in the area and we arrived there and found him on the ground," Dominguez said. "The officers who showed up were the officers that relieved him." Balcones Heights Police Chief Henry Dominguez said.
The police department only has 21 officers and those that arrived on the scene immediately recognized their fallen comrade.
"It is hard, but when we see one of our officers that's in danger . . . we have to put that aside," Dominguez said.
Officers started doing CPR on Pesina and he was taken to University hospital where he died shortly before 11 p.m.
The seven-year veteran of the department leaves behind a family, including parents and a preschool-aged daughter.
The shooting is currently under investigation.
