SAN ANTONIO — Three officers with the San Antonio Police Department on Friday were charged with murder after a 46-year-old woman was shot to death.
The shooting happened just after 2 a.m. on Friday at an apartment building near the 6200 block of Old Pearsall Road, KWTX reported.
Melissa Perez, 46, was reportedly experiencing a “mental health crisis,” Police Chief William McManus said during a Friday night news conference. She refused police orders to come into her apartment, according to The Associated Press.
One of the officers opened fire after Perez reportedly through a glass candlestick at them and swung a hammer at them, McManus said, according to the AP. When Perez approached them again with the hammer, all three officers fired at Perez. They hit her at least twice.
McManus said that Perez was believed to have cut wires to a fire alarm at the apartment complex and spoke with fire officials just after midnight, the AP reported. Cutting wires to a fire alarm is a felony. An officer then approached Perez and tried to get her to start walking to a patrol car.
The officers were identified as Sgt. Alfred Flores, Officer Eleazar Alejandro, and Officer Nathaniel Villalobos, KWTX reported.
After the shooting, the three officers went into Perez’s unit and provided aid until the paramedics arrived, the news outlet reported. Perez was soon after pronounced dead at the scene.
“The officers’ actions were not consistent with SAPD’s policy and training,” McManus said, according to the AP.
“They placed themselves in a situation where they used deadly force, which was not reasonable given all the circumstances,” McManus said, according to KWTX.
Flores, Alejandro, and Villalobos were suspended without pay, according to the AP. They have been charged with murder. The news outlet said that Flores is a 14-year veteran of the force, Alejandro is a five-year veteran of the force, and Villalobos has been with the department for about two years.