By Moses Leos III
Kyle resident Diego Rios remembered Natanaell Bardales as a person who just liked to hang out with people and have fun.
Bardales, according to Rios, was employed and was contemplating going back to school. Rios said Bardales had dropped out of Lehman High.
“He liked to play hoops sometime and play pool,” Rios said. “He liked to be outdoors.”
But it was while hanging out with friends that Bardales Saturday became the victim of a drive-by shooting in broad daylight in the Post Oak Subdivision.
Bardales, 18, was identified as the victim in the crime, which occurred in the 300 block of Discovery. Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett said Saturday Bardales was pronounced dead at 4:46 p.m. at University Medical Center Brackenridge Hospital.
Late Saturday, authorities arrested a 16-year-old juvenile in connection with the drive-by shooting.
The teenager, who will not be identified as he is a minor, was booked into the Hays County Juvenile Detention Facility. He was charged with murder, a first degree felony.
As of Monday, Kyle police have not released a motive behind the shooting and are continuing their investigation.
Rios, a friend of Bardales, said he, Bardales and three others were playing pool in a garage at a home in the 300 block of Discovery Saturday afternoon.
Rios said neither he nor Bardales resided in the home.
Rios said the group was about to leave to hang out with another friend when the shooting began.
“All of a sudden, a car just pulled up right in front and just let some shots off and drove off,” Rios said.
According to a Kyle press release, a vehicle drove by slowly and fired several shots. It’s unknown at this time what kind of weapon was fired in the drive-by. Rios said he thought he saw a white vehicle drive by, but didn’t see the model of the car.
At least one shot hit Bardales, according to the release. Bardales was outside the home at the time.
Officers on scene observed an injury to Bardelas’ head. He was transported by ambulance to Brackenridge Hospital, where he later died.
Other shots hit an SUV and a pickup truck parked outside of the home. Rios said he and others worked to find cover, with Rios hiding behind a truck.
For Rios, who said he didn’t know of anyone who would want to harm Bardales, the incident happened at a rapid pace.
“It’s just crazy,” Rios said. “It all happened so fast.”
Saturday’s incident marks the second murder investigation Kyle police is looking into in as many weeks. On March 26, Kyle Police arrested James Craig Keen, 49, of Kyle, who was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Erin Wright, 39, of Kyle. Keen is being held in the Hays County Jail on $250,000 bond.
