SAN ANTONIO – The three San Antonio police officers who were charged with murder after gunning down a woman inside her apartment have been released on bond Saturday, court records show.
In a press conference Friday, SAPD Chief William McManus identified the three now-terminated veteran officers as Sgt. Alfred Flores (14 years of service), Officer Eleazar Alejandro ( 5 years of service), and Officer Nathaniel Villalobos (2 years of service).
The shooting happened early Friday morning in the 6200 block of Old Pearsall Road on the Southwest Side.
Officers were called just after midnight for a disturbance of a woman destroying property. Chief McManus said she was cutting wires through a fire alarm system to the complex, which is a felony of criminal mischief.
McManus said the woman, identified as 46-year-old Melissa Perez, was having a mental health crisis, and when officers tried to speak with her in the parking lot, she ran back to her apartment and locked herself in.
Perez then reportedly reached for a glass candle and threw it at the officer.
One group of officers was at the front of the apartment, and three officers were stationed at the back patio of the apartment -- Flores, Alejandro, and Villalobos.
The three officers tried to coax Perez out of the apartment, but she refused.
Soon after, two of the officers jumped the railing and got onto the patio, according to McManus. One of them said Perez picked up a hammer and was “approaching them from inside.”
McManus said Perez swung the hammer from inside the apartment toward the officers and hit the window, breaking it.
One of the officers fired his weapon at Perez, but it didn’t appear that she was struck, according to SAPD.
Perez went toward the window again while still armed with the hammer, and all three officers opened fire, McManus said. She was hit by the gunfire at least two times.
After the shooting, officers forced their way inside the apartment and provided medical aid until EMS arrived. Perez died at the scene from her injuries.
McManus said the incident was reviewed by the department and the Bexar County District Attorney’s Civil Rights Division, and warrants were issued for the three officers.
Late Friday, all three officers were taken into custody and charged on murder with a bond of $100,000.
“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.
As of Saturday morning, all officers have made their bond and are released pending trial.
Three separate investigations will follow their arrests -- two from SAPD’s Internal Affairs and Homicide Unit and one from the DA’s Civil Rights Division.
FULL VIDEO: SAPD Chief William McManus provides information on fired officers facing murder charges after shooting investigation
