section_path: Final months/Police complaints and death
section_name: Police complaints and death
paragraph_text: Police complaints and death
  
  Despite years of complaints about Joss to the city of San Antonio, and 311, neighbors stated that police had done little. In total, police were called to Joss' home 74 times from January 2024 to June 2025. The reasons for the calls include complaints by neighbors about fires, thefts, nine calls in regard to shootings, six calls for mental health, and five calls for welfare checks. One neighbor told KSAT 12 News that her family and other neighbors had had tense conversations with Joss for decades, that he would frequently yell and make strange statements, like that his neighbors were going to go to hell because they're sinners and God is on his side, or that all the children on his street were going to die. Other neighbors also reported that Joss' behavior was erratic, and that he sometimes appeared outside in the street while yelling.
  
  On June 1, 2025, Joss and his husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, were driven by a woman to their burned-down home to check the mail. A half hour before his death, Joss was recorded by a neighbor holding a pitchfork walking up and down the street yelling. A neighbor told KSAT that a vehicle pulled up alongside the men and Joss spoke with the driver. A confrontation occurred between Joss and another neighbor, with whom Joss had been feuding and according to a witness who reported hearing three gunshots and seeing Joss with wounds to his neck and torso. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A suspect was arrested shortly afterward and reportedly told police, "I shot him", after being taken into custody.
  
  Neighbors told a local television station that Joss and the suspect had often argued for several years but that no violence had previously occurred. A previous incident on June 8, 2024, resulted in the suspect calling police, saying Joss was brandishing a crossbow. On May 24, 2024, reports of gunfire resulted in police confiscating Joss's firearms.
  
  Gonzales posted on Facebook that the day they returned to their burned house, they found the skull and harness of one of their dogs, leading to "severe emotional distress". Gonzales said the murder suspect yelled "violent homophobic slurs" before opening fire and that Joss pushed Gonzales out of the bullet's path, saving his life. Gonzales said neither he nor Joss was armed. Additionally, Gonzales said that various people in the area had for years verbally assaulted them with homophobic slurs and threats to burn down their home. Gonzales described the attack as a homophobic hate crime, stating that the neighbor "started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. He then raised a gun from his lap and fired."
  
  The San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) released an initial statement saying that no evidence of a hate crime had yet been found but that the investigation was still ongoing, although they later retracted this statement and publicly denounced it as “premature”. According to Gonzales, the couple had reported homophobic harassment "to law enforcement multiple times and nothing was done". The SAPD also confirmed that Joss had been a part of neighborhood conflicts and that the police mental health unit had made "repeated efforts to mediate conflicts and connect him with services that he may have needed".
  
  Despite years of complaints about Joss to the city of San Antonio, and 311, neighbors stated that police had done little. In total, police were called to Joss' home 74 times from January 2024 to June 2025. The reasons for the calls include complaints by neighbors about fires, thefts, nine calls in regard to shootings, six calls for mental health, and five calls for welfare checks. One neighbor told KSAT 12 News that her family and other neighbors had had tense conversations with Joss for decades, that he would frequently yell and make strange statements, like that his neighbors were going to go to hell because they're sinners and God is on his side, or that all the children on his street were going to die. Other neighbors also reported that Joss' behavior was erratic, and that he sometimes appeared outside in the street while yelling.
  
  On June 1, 2025, Joss and his husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, were driven by a woman to their burned-down home to check the mail. A half hour before his death, Joss was recorded by a neighbor holding a pitchfork walking up and down the street yelling. A neighbor told KSAT that a vehicle pulled up alongside the men and Joss spoke with the driver. A confrontation occurred between Joss and another neighbor, with whom Joss had been feuding and according to a witness who reported hearing three gunshots and seeing Joss with wounds to his neck and torso. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A suspect was arrested shortly afterward and reportedly told police, "I shot him", after being taken into custody.
  
  Neighbors told a local television station that Joss and the suspect had often argued for several years but that no violence had previously occurred. A previous incident on June 8, 2024, resulted in the suspect calling police, saying Joss was brandishing a crossbow. On May 24, 2024, reports of gunfire resulted in police confiscating Joss's firearms.
  
  Gonzales posted on Facebook that the day they returned to their burned house, they found the skull and harness of one of their dogs, leading to "severe emotional distress". Gonzales said the murder suspect yelled "violent homophobic slurs" before opening fire and that Joss pushed Gonzales out of the bullet's path, saving his life. Gonzales said neither he nor Joss was armed. Additionally, Gonzales said that various people in the area had for years verbally assaulted them with homophobic slurs and threats to burn down their home. Gonzales described the attack as a homophobic hate crime, stating that the neighbor "started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. He then raised a gun from his lap and fired."
  
  The San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) released an initial statement saying that no evidence of a hate crime had yet been found but that the investigation was still ongoing, although they later retracted this statement and publicly denounced it as “premature”. According to Gonzales, the couple had reported homophobic harassment "to law enforcement multiple times and nothing was done". The SAPD also confirmed that Joss had been a part of neighborhood conflicts and that the police mental health unit had made "repeated efforts to mediate conflicts and connect him with services that he may have needed".