Man uses Apple AirTag to track down truck thief and shoots him dead, police say

Apple condemned use of AirTag for violence

A Texas man whose truck was stolen used an Apple AirTag to track down the missing vehicle and shoot the man suspected of taking it, according to San Antonio police.

Andrew John Herrera, 44, died of a gunshot wound to the head on Wednesday. The Bexar County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide, KSAT reports.

Police believe that when Herrera was confronted by the owner of the truck at a shopping centre in southeast San Antonio, the late 44-year-old may have pulled out a firearm.

Officials have not named the alleged gunman, and are still investigating whether the individual in the truck had a weapon.

Police found bullet casings and two cars with windows shot out at the scene of the confrontation.

"If you are to get your vehicle stolen, please do not take matters into your own hands like this," Officer Nick Soliz said at a press briefing earlier this week. "It’s never safe, as you can see by this incident."

San Antonio police got notice of the stolen truck around 1pm on Wednesday, but the shooting occured before police could arrive.

The owner of the vehicle allegedly used an Apple AirTag, a quarter-sized, Bluetooth-enabled tracking device often attached to keys or bags, to trace the vehicle to a shopping centre near the 3200 block of Southeast Military Drive.

Apple condemned the use of its technology for violence in a statement to Fox News.

"AirTag was designed to help people locate their personal belongings, not to track people or another person’s property, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products,” the company said. “Unwanted tracking has long been a societal problem, and we took this concern seriously in the design of AirTag. It’s why the Find My network is built with privacy in mind, uses end-to-end encryption, and why we innovated with the first-ever proactive system to alert you of unwanted tracking. We hope this starts an industry trend for others to also provide these sorts of proactive warnings in their products.”