The development of technology has made life easier, but a recent instance in the United States has shown that technology may even assist the common man in tracking down dreaded criminals.

According to a report by CBS News, a man suspected of stealing a truck from a residential neighbourhood in San Antonio, Texas, was shot and killed by one of the truck's owners, who had tracked the vehicle using an Apple AirTag.

San Antonio Police Department spokesperson Nick Soliz told reporters in a briefing that the vehicle was stolen at about 1 p.m. local time from outside a home on the city's Northside. Three members of the family that own the truck used an AirTag to track the vehicle to the parking lot of a strip mall in San Antonio's Southside neighbourhood.

"It looks like they tried to confront the suspect, who they saw in their vehicle," Mr Soliz said.

Authorities are unsure of the precise circumstances surrounding the shooting, but Mr. Soliz claimed that one of the family members made an attempt "to contact the suspect in the truck."

"Right now, it's believed that only the victim of the stolen vehicle fired shots," Soliz said. "He did strike the suspect in the stolen truck."

The 30-year-old theft suspect was later declared dead. His identity was not immediately made public.

This is the second known incident of such tracking via Apple's AirTag. A few days ago, a man in the United States who lost his luggage at the airport was shocked to find the alleged thief wearing his clothes when he tracked the suitcase using Apple's AirTag.

Jameel Reid was travelling from Los Angeles to Atlanta, Georgia, when he noticed that the baggage carousel didn't have his bags. He noticed that someone must have already taken it after half an hour had passed, and it became obvious that his luggage was not arriving. According to him, his bag contained about $3,000 (Rs 2.4 lakh) worth of items.

"I'm going to baggage claim and all that ... I'm trying to look for my luggage. I'm standing there for like 30 minutes or so. I'm not seeing it. Eventually, I pulled my phone out, so I have an Air Tag in my luggage," he told WSB-TV.