Global Courant
Three members of the San Antonio Police Department were charged with murder on Friday after they allegedly shot and killed a woman in her apartment, the department said.
Melissa Perez, 46, was shot and killed by officers after responding to a call about a woman destroying property, police said.
The Officers — Sgt. Alfred Flores, Officer Eleazar Alejandro and Officer Nathaniel Villalobos – were suspended following an evaluation of the shooting, the department said in a statement late Friday.
Their “actions are inconsistent with SAPD’s policy training and they put themselves in a situation where they used deadly force, which was not reasonable given all the circumstances as we now understand them,” Chief William McManus said at a news conference.
The officers were dispatched to an apartment complex on the southwest side of the city at about 12:27 a.m. after a report of vandalism, Lieutenant Michelle Ramos said in a video released by the department. A woman allegedly “cut wires to an alarm panel” in front of the apartment complex, Ramos said.
Three San Antonio police officers, Sgt. Alfred Flores and officers Eleazar Alejandro and Nathaniel Villalobos were charged with murder on June 23, 2023 in the shooting of a woman who was experiencing a “mental health crisis” according to the city’s police chief.
The San Antonio Police Department via AP
Officers who arrived at the scene contacted Perez outside and identified her, said Ramos, who provided a voiceover for bodycam video of the officers.
“It appears Ms. Perez had a mental health crisis,” McManus said. “Officers tried to get her to walk to their patrol car, but she ran back to her apartment and locked the door.”
Officers had determined that cutting the alarm wires was a felony, McManus said.
Video released by the department appears to show an officer then climbing over a railing to the patio of Perez’s second-floor apartment. The cop in the video tries to open the door.
When “trying to arrest the woman, officers opened the screen to the window that was already open,” Ramos said.
Perez then reportedly picked up a hammer, Ramos said. The officer then drew his gun, she said.
“While at her home, the woman threw a glass candle at officers, hitting an officer in the arm and causing minor injuries,” Ramos said.
Perez and the officers then “communicated” through the open window for about half an hour, police said. One of the officers then climbed back over the railing to the door, Ramos said. Perez would then have smashed a window of the door with the hammer, according to the police.
“An officer fired several shots at the woman, but it didn’t appear she was hit by the gunfire,” Ramos said.
Perez then “left” before returning to the door “hammer in hand,” Ramos said.
“At that point, two other officers fired at the woman — along with the first officer who fired the first round of gunshots,” Ramos said. “The woman was hit by the gunfire and later pronounced dead by paramedics. Other than the woman, no one was injured by the gunfire.”
