An Indian family with a toddler were among the eight people pepper-sprayed on a San Antonio River Walk boat over the weekend. Footage widely shared online shows the perpetrator, a woman, yelling at everyone before she pepper sprayed them.
Here’s what happened
The disturbing incident unfolded on the evening of November 15, Saturday, on board a Go Rio boat tour in San Antonio, Texas. According to a KSAT report, a woman became agitated after being asked to lower the volume on her phone and went on to pepper-spray several tourists.
The San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) said the boat operator asked the woman to turn her phone down. When she grew upset, the operator stopped the boat to allow her to get off. After stepping off, the woman began verbally attacking the passengers and then pepper-sprayed eight people on board, including a young child.
Witnesses told officers that the woman walked onto a nearby bridge after exiting the boat and sprayed pepper spray down onto the barge, striking the victims. Witnesses said that the pepper spray appeared to be hanging from her bag.
The woman fled the scene and has not yet been located, police said.
Child seen in distress
{{/usCountry}}The woman fled the scene and has not yet been located, police said.
Child seen in distress
{{/usCountry}}Disturbing footage of the incident shared on TikTok shows the toddler wiping their eyes and crying in distress.
Screengrabs from the video were shared by a popular social media page dedicated to NRIs. “Woman pepper sprays Indian family amid phone volume dispute on San Antonio riverboat,” read the on-screen caption.
In the comments section, Instagram user @suren_dm said that the Indian family in the pepper spray attack are his friends. They are now planning to file charges against the woman, Suren said.
Meanwhile, tourists visiting San Antonio said they were surprised by the lawlessness on display in the clip. “I mean, it’s absolutely wild — pepper-spraying a bunch of people for no reason,” said Andy Moran, visiting from Missouri, told KSAT.