Cops thought man overdosed until autopsy uncovers odd chest wound, Texas police say

Officers tried to save the life of a man they thought was suffering from an overdose, Texas police say, but they didn’t notice a small, strange wound on his chest, outlets reported.

The San Antonio Police Department received a call about a man screaming outside an apartment building near downtown on Aug. 22, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

When officers arrived, they found the 63-year-old lying motionless on the ground, police said in an arrest affidavit obtained by the outlet.

Believing narcotics were the problem, officers injected him with a dose of Narcan, KSAT reported. Despite their efforts, he died at the scene from an apparent overdose, police said.

It wasn’t until later, during an autopsy, that the medical examiner spotted a “ballistic wound” caused by a BB fired from an airsoft gun, the station reported.

After further investigation, police say the man was shot with a pellet gun during a confrontation at the apartment complex, according to a news release.

The man walked up to one of the units and knocked on the door, and 51-year-old Robert Green answered, police said. The men got into a fight, and Green shot the man with a pellet gun, according to investigators.

The pellet pierced the man’s chest and ultimately killed him, police said.

Green was arrested Oct. 20 and booked into the Bexar County Jail on a charge of manslaughter, according to the release.

While it’s common knowledge that BB guns, pellet guns and similar products can cause harm if misused, they have also proven deadly in rare cases, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. About four deaths each year are caused by BB and pellet guns, the organization said.

This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Cops thought man overdosed until autopsy uncovers odd chest wound, Texas police say."