The 11-year-old’s brother remained hospitalized as authorities prepared to pursue a murder charge against their neighbor.
SAN ANTONIO, TX — An 11-year-old boy died after he and his older brother were shot outside their West Bexar County home Tuesday evening in what authorities described as an unprovoked attack by a neighbor.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the child as Maliki Perales. His 20-year-old brother remained hospitalized after both were struck by gunfire while inside a vehicle outside their home, according to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. Officials had not released an updated condition for the surviving brother Wednesday morning.
The shooting happened shortly after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 9800 block of Acadian Drive, near U.S. Highway 90 and Loop 1604. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said a 38-year-old man walked out of his home with a handgun and fired at the brothers’ vehicle as it backed out of a driveway across the street.
Both brothers were struck multiple times and taken to a hospital in critical condition, authorities said. Maliki later died from his injuries. Investigators said they had found no evidence of an argument, confrontation or history of hostility between the suspect and the brothers before the shooting.
“There is no indication at all of any sort of confrontation or provocation,” Salazar said during a news conference held before officials announced the child’s death. The sheriff said investigators believed the victims had been selected at random.
Deputies who arrived at the neighborhood divided their efforts between helping the wounded brothers and searching for the armed man, Salazar said. The suspect was taken into custody about 10 minutes after the shooting. Investigators recovered a handgun from a nearby drainage area where they believe it had been discarded.
The sheriff said members of the suspect’s family had tried to restrain him before he left his home. Investigators believed he was experiencing a mental health crisis, though authorities had not announced a formal medical finding or a motive. Dispatchers also received a call from a man who claimed to have shot his neighbors, but investigators had not confirmed whether the suspect made that call.
The man was initially held on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon while both victims were alive. Following Maliki’s death, authorities said he was expected to face a murder charge in addition to a charge connected with the shooting of the surviving brother. The suspect’s name had not been released, and the accusations against him had not been proven in court.
Salazar said investigators did not believe the suspect had a criminal history. He also renewed his call for more mental health treatment resources in Texas, arguing that law enforcement agencies continue to encounter people in severe crises without enough hospital beds or other care options available.
The Sheriff’s Office continued investigating the shooting Wednesday. Authorities had not announced when the suspect would be formally booked on the upgraded charge or released further information about the surviving brother’s condition.
Author note: Last updated August 5, 2026.