Three police officers were charged with murder Friday after allegedly fatally shooting a woman believed to have been suffering a mental health crisis, authorities reported.
“The shooting officers’ actions were not consistent with SAPD’s policy and training,” San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said during a press briefing shortly after the shooting.
“They placed themselves in a situation where they used deadly force which was not reasonable given all the circumstances as we now understand them.”
The three officers involved in the shooting — Officer Nathaniel Villalobos, Officer Eleazar Alejandro, and Sergeant Alfred Flores — were immediately suspended without pay pending a full investigation, KWTX reported.
Melissa Perez, 46, was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS after allegedly being shot by SAPD officers.
“After reviewing the evidence of this case and speaking with the District Attorney’s Civil Rights Division, warrants were issued for the three officers who shot and killed Melissa Perez,” Chief McManus said, adding that the three were charged with murder and had already been taken into custody.
Chief McManus offered condolences to the entire family of Ms. Perez and offered assurances to the victim’s daughter that the incident would be thoroughly investigated. Details on the woman’s daughter were not provided at the press conference.
Officers were dispatched to the 6200 block of Old Pearsall around 12:27 a.m. for a vandalism incident in which a woman had reportedly cut some wires to a fire alarm panel in an apartment complex, Chief McManus said.
Perez had initially spoken with the fire department in the parking lot, McManus said.
The woman fled into her apartment and locked herself inside after officers identified her in a parking area, SAPD Lt. Michelle Ramos said, narrating a video that shows a blurred image of the woman outdoors with a dog near an apartment building.
Officers determined that the damage she allegedly did to the fire alarm was felony criminal mischief, Chief McManus said.
Officers followed her to her first floor residence. Attempting to arrest her, officers hopped over a railing and removed a screen from an already-open window at the rear of the apartment. Another group of officers were stationed at the front of the apartment, McManus also said.
On seeing the woman, who was inside her apartment, grab a hammer, an officer drew his weapon and told a dispatcher he had the suspect at gunpoint.
Additional officers joined the first.
The woman then threw a glass candle at the officers, striking one in the arm, causing minor injuries, Lt. Ramos said.
Officers communicated with the woman for more than 30 minutes through the open window.
“You ain’t got no warrant,” a woman is heard saying as an officer begins to make his way over the patio railing.
When officers got over the railing, the woman ran to the window and struck it with the hammer, shattering it.
At that point, one officer fired multiple rounds at the woman, apparently not striking her.
The woman, with the hammer still in her hand, moved back, but then approached the patio door.
All three officers then shot at the woman, including the officer who initially shot at the woman.
Officers entered the unit and rendered first aid. EMS later pronounced the woman deceased at the scene.
The SAPD and the Internal Affairs Unit are conducting separate and concurrent inquiries, and the investigation into use of deadly force could take more than a year. The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, as with other officer-involved shootings, will review their findings independently, according to the SAPD.
The San Antonio Police Department released video from the officer-involved shooting. TheBlaze cautions viewers that the video may be disturbing.
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