SAN ANTONIO – A tragic incident occurred in Shavano Park when a man named Joseph Martin Finnegan, 27, was accused of killing his grandmother in their home. This shocking event has drawn attention due to Finnegan’s long history with law enforcement.
On Wednesday afternoon, police arrived at the home on Long Bow Road, where they found Finnegan covered in blood and his grandmother deceased. The situation escalated quickly, prompting a major police response.
Earlier that day, Finnegan’s grandmother had called 911 for help, requesting the Bexar County Sheriff’s Specialized Multidisciplinary Alternate Response Team (S.M.A.R.T.) due to her grandson’s mental health issues. Unfortunately, her call didn’t receive the immediate attention it might have needed.
Bill Hill, the city manager of Shavano Park, explained that police were not dispatched right away because the request was specifically for the mental health team, and it was asked that local officers do not respond. In hindsight, Hill suggested that this decision may not have been the best.
Shavano Park police officers are trained to handle mental health crises, and they had previously been called to the Finnegan residence over ten times since 2016. Finnegan had a history of various charges, many of which were dropped or not pursued by the district attorney’s office.
According to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, there have been multiple calls to the home involving Finnegan in the past two years. This background raised concerns about the response to the 911 call made by his grandmother.
One neighbor described the scene after the call, stating that it quickly turned into a crime scene filled with police cars and ambulances. The neighbor also suggested that there should have been a better protocol in place to advise the victim on how to stay safe while waiting for help.
“Someone should have advised her to get to safety,” the neighbor remarked, suggesting that staying on the phone or moving to a neighbor’s house could have been options.
As of Thursday afternoon, the victim’s name has not yet been released, but the community is left grappling with the consequences of this tragic event and the complexities surrounding mental health and police response.
