3 San Antonio Police officers charged with murder after shooting woman amid 'mental health episode'

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (TCD) -- Three San Antonio Police Department officers have been suspended without pay and charged with murder for shooting and killing a woman who was having an apparent "mental health episode" over the weekend.

According to Chief William McManus, on Friday, June 23, just after midnight, officers responded to an apartment complex on the 6200 block of Old Pearsall Road after receiving a call about a woman "destroying property" and cutting wires to the fire alarms in her building. Police arrived and reportedly found the victim, Melissa Perez, in the parking lot speaking to officials from the fire department.

McManus said it "appeared Ms. Perez was having a mental health crisis."

Officers reportedly tried to put her in a patrol car, but she ran back to her apartment and locked herself in.

According to McManus, the officers felt they could arrest Perez on a charge of criminal mischief for cutting the alarms, so they attempted to take her into custody. One officer went to the back porch of her apartment and cut the screen. Perez reportedly threw a glass candle at the officer and hit him. That officer waited for backup to arrive.

Three officers waited at the back patio for Perez to come out. At one point, Perez reportedly ran toward the officers with a hammer and threw it at them. One of the officers fired his weapon, but the bullet did not hit her. McManus said Perez continued to advance at the officers with the hammer and all three opened fire, killing her.

The officers, who McManus identified as Sgt. Alfred Flores, Officer Eleazar Alejandro, and Officer Nathaniel Villalobos, were arrested and charged with murder. The three men have been suspended without pay.

Flores has been with the San Antonio Police Department for 14 years, Alejandro for five years, and Villalobos for two years.

The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday, June 26, that the three officers were released on bond.

The San Antonio Police Department released body cam footage from the shooting.

In his news conference, McManus said the officers "placed themselves in a situation where they used deadly force which was not reasonable given all the circumstances as we now understand them."

Perez’s daughter told ABC News in a statement via her attorney, "We have always been a pro-police family. This breaks my heart. I always trusted the police to protect me and now I don’t know who to trust. We can’t express how hurt we are."

MORE:

• Chief McManus providing an update on an Officer Involved Shooting - San Antonio Police Department
• Bexar County Criminal District Attorney Joe Gonzales released the following statement regarding the fatal shooting of Melissa Perez - Bexar County District Attorney's Office
• Murder charges filed against 3 San Antonio police officers - ABC News
• San Antonio Police Department Critical Incident Video Release: 6200 Block of Old Pearsall Rd. - San Antonio Police Department
• What we know about 3 San Antonio police officers charged with murder in death of Melissa Perez - KSAT-TV