Track and volleyball coach killed by stray bullet while at rooftop patio at Smoke Skybar
SAN ANTONIO - Another deadly shooting downtown took the life of someone visiting San Antonio. It happened just after midnight Tuesday at the Smoke Skybar. Police are looking for a suspect and need your help.
“It’s very, very difficult to put this together without a witness or without some kind of video,” explained San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.
Chief McManus says his homicide detectives are working hard to find the person who pulled the trigger and killed 28-year-old Ayden Rose Burt. She was visiting from Jasper for a coaches’ conference. She was out with friends at a rooftop bar called Smoke Skybar on East Crockett near East Houston Street. She was sitting with her back to Interstate 37 when a stray bullet hit her in the back.
Burt was rushed to the hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
“She was struck by a single bullet in the back while she was seated outside on the patio. This appears that it may have come from the highway. Someone randomly shooting as they drove by,” said Chief McManus.
I-37 can be seen from the bar. Chief McManus is encouraging any witnesses who may have been driving on the highway around midnight, when the shooting happened, to come forward.
“We don’t have a known suspect vehicle at the moment,” said Chief McManus.
Ayden Burt was a high school volleyball and track coach for Jasper ISD. Superintendent John Seybold said in a statement, “Burt has been teaching in Jasper ISD since 2019, teaching English at both Jasper High School and the junior high.”
Seybold says Burt was a high school teacher, then taught at the junior high. She was going to return to the high school this school year as the girls’ volleyball and track coach. She was attending the THSCA training conference in San Antonio, along with other JISD staff.
Burt's family is from Jasper County. Her father was the junior high principal until this year when he retired. Her grandfather also served as the principal.
“Most of us watched her grow up,” said Seybold. "She was a wonderful teacher and person, and she loved her kids."
This video was posted by the Texas Hispanic Coaches Association just hours earlier to promote the event.