According to Chief William McManus, three San Antonio police officers have been arrested and charged with murder following the early Friday morning shooting death of a lady in her apartment. Sgt. Alfred Flores (14 years on the force), Eleazar Alejandro (5 years), and Nathaniel Villalobos (2 years) were the three policemen named.
The entire police force was arrested. The department announced the officers’ dismissal. Another incident allegedly resulted in a suspension without pay, according to SAPD. KSAT has requested more information. The incident took place about 1:00 a.m. on Friday in the 6200 block of Old Pearsall Road, which is located in the Southwest neighborhood of Chicago.
A report came in soon after midnight about a woman causing a commotion by breaking things. Chief McManus claimed that she was committing criminal mischief by severing cables from the building’s fire alarm system. Melissa Melissa Perez, 46, was in the parking lot at the time of her encounter with police officers. She had been conversing with the San Antonio Fire Department.
She told them her full name, birth date, and apartment number. According to McManus, officers tried to coax Perez into their patrol car while she experienced a mental health crisis. But she quickly returned to her apartment, where she closed and locked the door. The police then made an attempt to communicate with her through the window.
According to McManus, one of the police then took the screen off the porch window. After that, Perez allegedly went to get a glass candle and tossed it at the policeman. According to McManus, the police retreated while waiting for reinforcements and a supervisor.
Flores, Alejandro, and Villalobos were the three officers stationed on the apartment’s rear patio while the other group of officers guarded the apartment’s entrance. Perez refused to leave her residence as the three police officers tried to persuade her to do so.
According to McManus, two of the policemen climbed the railing and emerged onto the patio shortly thereafter. One of them claimed that Perez had taken up a hammer and was “approaching them from inside.” According to McManus, Perez swung the hammer from inside the apartment at the police, breaking the window.
The tweet below verifies the news:
#TX
“Three San Antonio police officers are charged with murder after gunning down a woman inside her apartment early Friday, according to Chief William McManus.”The woman came at officers armed with a hammer. pic.twitter.com/5YLW4w4psW
— Shane B. Murphy (@shanermurph) June 24, 2023
Police said one of their officers fired their firearm at Perez, but it appears she was not hit. McManus claimed that when Perez approached the window again while carrying the hammer, all three cops fired fire. At least twice, she was struck by bullets. Cops barged into the flat after a shooting and rendered aid before paramedics arrived. Due to her wounds, Perez passed away at the hospital.
McManus stated the department and the Bexar County District Attorney’s Civil Rights Division evaluated the event and issued warrants for the three officers involved. They were all arrested on Friday night and charged with murder.
“The shooting 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 said.
The arrests will trigger three separate probes: one each by SAPD’s Internal Affairs and Homicide Unit and the District Attorney’s Office’s Civil Rights Division.
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A Breakdown of the Officer’s Body Camera Footage
The footage begins with an officer approaching Perez in the parking lot of her building while she is walking her dog. The cop then approaches and says, “Hey, lady, get over here.” The officer chased after Perez as she walked away and yelled at her to “Get over here.”
She only says, “Nope,” and keeps on her way to the flat. The policeman gives chase and starts running. The cop then walks up to the woman’s balcony and can be seen on the body cam footage jumping over it. The officer’s hand appeared to be reaching for the back door handle.
The cop entered the room, saw the woman’s open window, and started tearing the screen off without even speaking to her. She angrily orders him to stop banging on the window and tries to shut it. The cop backed aside and started pointing his rifle at the female suspect.
The police officer warns her, “You’re going to get shot.” “Shoot me,” she retorts. After that, glass breaks and the woman yells at the police. One officer is seen jumping over the balcony, followed by several more doing the same. The policeman instructs us to “hold on” for the moment.
A response from the female: “You ain’t got no warrant.”
Then, “Let’s go. ” says another police officer. Get in gear.
Then, on the terrace, two police officers were observed waiting.
When one cop turned back, he or she saw other officers who immediately began shouting, “Watch out!” The police said, “Watch out!” before opening fire on the woman. Another officer was seen attempting to open the door from outside.
The female figure appeared to be standing.
She hears the officers shouting, “Hey!” More gunfire follows the “Hey!”
From a different vantage point, it was possible to witness many police officers opening fire on the woman’s flat.
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