Three San Antonio police officers have been charged with murder for fatally shooting a mentally unstable woman armed with a hammer.
The shooting occurred Friday morning after Sgt. Alfred Flores and Officers Eleazar Alejandro and Nathaniel Villalobos responded to a report that the woman, Melissa Perez, 46, had cut the wires to her apartment complex’s fire alarm.
“When officers arrived, Perez was speaking with San Antonio Fire Department crews in the parking lot. As they approached her, she ran back to her apartment and locked the door,” according to San Antonio news station KSAT.
“Officers Flores, Alejandro and Villalobos moved toward the back patio of Perez’s apartment and unsuccessfully attempted to coax Perez outside. Two of the three officers jumped the railing onto the patio, and spoke to Perez through a window and door.
The bodycam footage from the shooting can be seen at the link below:
San Antonio Police Officers Shoot Woman Responding To Reports That She Destroyed a Fire Alarmhttps://t.co/nHsKZw6utf pic.twitter.com/OOtq7tVSmh
— PoliceActivity (@Police_Activity) June 24, 2023
At one point, Perez reportedly threw a glass candle at them, striking one officer in the arm. At another point, she yelled, “Shoot me — you ain’t got no warrant!”
The officers reportedly removed the window screen and continued talking to her, until she at one point picked up a hammer and began “approaching them from inside,” according to San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.
One of the officers then opened fire, but Perez didn’t appear to be struck. Yet instead of backing off, Perez approached them with the hammer again, and this time all three officers opened fire, reportedly hitting Perez at least twice.
“Police forced their way inside the apartment and provided medical assistance until EMS arrived. … Perez died from her injuries at the scene,” according to KSAT.
By that afternoon, all three officers had been charged with murder over their handling of Perez’s behavior, which McManus attributed to a “mental health crisis.”
“The officers’ actions were not consistent with SAPD’s policy and training. They placed themselves in a situation where they used deadly force which was not reasonable given all the circumstances as we now understand them,” McManus announced at a late Friday press conference.
“Our condolences to Melissa Perez’s entire family, I want to ensure her daughter that this incident will continue to be thoroughly investigated,” he added.
According to McManus, Flores has been with the department for 14 years, while Alejandro and Villalobos have been there for five years, respectively.
“Bexar County court records show that each of the officers is charged with murder. Their bonds were set at $100,000 each. As of Saturday morning, all three officers made their bond and were released from the Bexar County Jail pending trial,” KSAT notes.
Following their arrest, a debate erupted over whether they’d been in the right or the wrong to open fire.
Some said they’d been completely in the right given as Perez had approached/attacked them with a hammer. These critics worried that punishing officers for simply defending themselves might not be such a good idea.
Look (*Language warning):
Self defense. Don’t attack cops with a hammer.
— Threefaze (@Threefazemike) June 24, 2023
So how do they expect to retain and hire new officers if they’re pulling this crap.
— DC37936 (@DebraCa548) June 25, 2023
Every officer should walk off the job of that shitshow agency… fuck these Marxists running the govt… 1776 2.0 is the only way out
— 1776istheonlyway (@1776theonlyway) June 25, 2023
Ridiculous. No way is “murder” but a tragic mistake instead. Time to FIRE that prosecutor.
I expect many cops to quit – risking this every shift?— Oscar Winner (@MacGrub60928581) June 25, 2023
So that’s going to be everyone’s excuse. This person was suffering from a mental illness. Even though she picked up a hammer and charged the officers and they gave her commands. She fucked around and found out.
— We The People (@WeThePeople058) June 25, 2023
Others argued the opposite, saying that nothing justified the officers opening fire on Perez, especially given as she’d been in the middle of a “mental health crisis.”
These critics also argued that the officers had overreacted and shouldn’t have been so “trigger happy,” especially since they’d been separated from Perez by a wall.
Look:
VANDALISM? They had to go in there guns-ablazing for VANDELISM?!
— Lucy Monostone (@boney_robin) June 24, 2023
Why did any of them need to draw their guns? She had a hammer.
— Peter Lemieux (@PeterHLemieux) June 24, 2023
Do me a favor, future cops; if you operate at this level of extreme fear and paranoia, don’t enter the field of law enforcement. We don’t want you. The job is difficult enough without people like you over-reacting and using deadly force where none was necessary.
— Mile High Protector (@DtownGuardian) June 24, 2023
She appeared to be having a mental health crisis, said she had a hammer after she ran back inside, but even then using a taser would’ve done the job but no. A lot of cops nowadays remind me of South Park, “it’s coming right for us!”, with the way they shoot people.
— Justin (@Homoseshual) June 24, 2023
Police need to be re-trained NOT to use Deadly Force aim when encountering someone who is obviously NOT A DEADLY THREAT to them. If they feel threatened by a hammer on the other side of a wall, that’s an issue! Disable the suspect with a shot to arm or leg, not middle body mass.
— KLee ✊Veracity Over Mendacity (@keciacailey) June 24, 2023
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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