Three policemen in San Antonio, Texas were charged with murder after they allegedly shot and killed a woman while attending to a call that she was damaging property at her apartment’s complex, police said.
The said police officers Eleazar Alejandro, 28; Alfred Flores, 45; and Nathaniel Villalobos, 27 were suspended from the force without pay, CNN reported.
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Addressing a news conference Friday night, San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) chief William McManus said: “It appeared that the woman, Ms. Perez, was having a mental health crisis.”
McManus said that Perez ran to her home and locked the door after speaking with officers outside.
As per a body camera video released by police, officers continued talking to Perez through a rear patio window, urging her to come out.
In the video, she can be heard saying twice that “You ain’t got no warrant!” When an officer attempted to open the window, Perez threw a glass candleholder at him and later swung a hammer at an officer which hit the window instead.
When one officer opened fire, Perez was not hit and can be heard in the video.
However, seconds later, Perez “advanced toward the window again while still holding the hammer, and all three officers opened fire.” Of over 12 shots heard in the video, Perez was struck at least twice, leading to her on the spot death.