Sgt. Alfred Flores and Officers Eleazar Alejandro and Nathaniel Villalobos are all in custody following Friday morning’s shooting. Credit: Courtesy Photo / San Antonio Police Department

Three San Antonio police officers face murder charges after gunning down a woman early Friday in her own South Side apartment.

“The shooting officers’ actions were not consistent with SAPD’s policy and training,” Police Chief William McManus said during a Friday night news conference. “They placed themselves in a situation where they used deadly force which was not reasonable given all circumstances as we now understand them.

Sgt. Alfred Flores and Officers Eleazar Alejandro and Nathaniel Villalobos are in custody and have been suspended from SAPD without pay, McManus said. The men were on the force for 14, 5 and 2 years, respectively.

McManus said the woman, 46-year-old Melissa Perez, was having a “mental health crisis” when officers arrived at her apartment on the 6200 block of Old Pearsall Road.

Police received a call that Perez had cut wires to the complex’s fire alarm system, which McManus described as a felony count of criminal mischief.

After officers asked Perez to come to their patrol car, she fled into her apartment, according to the chief’s account. More police arrived at the scene as officers tried to urge her to come outside and speak with them.

One group of police positioned themselves outside Perez’s front door while Flores, Alejandro and Villalobos went to her back patio, according to the chief.

While still in her apartment, Perez swung a hammer at the back window and broke it, McManus said. One officer opened fire but it didn’t appear the bullet struck her, the chief added.

When Perez approached the window again, still holding the hammer, all three men  fired on her, according to McManus. She was struck at least twice and was reported dead at the scene, he said.

McManus said both the department and the Bexar County District Attorney’s Civil Rights Division reviewed the case before charges were filed against the officers.

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed

Related Stories

This article appears in Jun 14-27, 2023.

Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...