Jonathan Andrew Orta, a 33-year-old Hispanic/Latino man, was killed on January 29, 2025, after a shooting at an apartment complex in the 200 block of Torreon Street on San Antonio’s West Side, just west of downtown. The San Antonio Police Department was called to the complex shortly after 5:30 p.m. after reports of gunfire. Officers found Orta suffering from a gunshot wound, and although first responders began treating him, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office later determined that he died from a gunshot wound to the torso and classified the death as a homicide.
Investigators initially said the suspected shooter fled before police could take him into custody. Early reports described the person police were seeking as someone in his twenties, and authorities indicated that Orta and the shooter may have known one another. Officers concentrated their search around the apartment complex after witnesses pointed them toward an apartment where the suspected gunman had reportedly gone. Several occupants were detained while police attempted to locate the shooter, but authorities said at the time that the person believed responsible had escaped. Police did not immediately disclose a motive or explain what dispute, if any, preceded the gunfire.
As the investigation developed, police identified Gilbert Gonzales as the suspected shooter. According to information contained in an arrest warrant later reported by San Antonio news outlets, Gonzales was accused of shooting Orta during an encounter at the apartment complex. Witness accounts described Orta as attempting to leave the property when two gunshots were heard. Police records indicated that Orta collapsed after being struck and was bleeding heavily when officers and emergency personnel arrived.
The arrest-warrant account added that the fatal shooting may not have been the first time Gonzales allegedly fired at Orta that evening. Witnesses told investigators that Gonzales had reportedly fired at Orta earlier in the encounter. Orta subsequently attempted to leave the complex, and investigators alleged that Gonzales fired again, fatally striking him. Medical findings cited in later reporting indicated that Orta was shot in the back and that the projectile traveled through his body before exiting, providing investigators with additional evidence about the circumstances and direction of the shooting.
Residents and witnesses reportedly identified Gonzales to police, prompting an extensive search around the Torreon Street complex. Officers surrounded an apartment where they believed he had taken refuge, and the police response included SWAT personnel and K-9 units. Although people inside the apartment were detained during the operation, the initial search did not result in Gonzales being captured at the scene, and he remained wanted while detectives continued gathering witness statements and other evidence.
By March 2025, authorities had filed a murder charge against Gonzales in connection with Orta’s death. Reporting based on the arrest warrant identified Gonzales as the accused gunman and described the witness evidence police relied upon in seeking the charge. The available online reporting establishes that Gonzales was formally accused of murder, but it does not provide a clearly documented subsequent trial, guilty plea, acquittal, or conviction in Orta’s case. No other person has been publicly identified in the reviewed reporting as a charged participant in the killing.
