Officer Involved in Deadly Shooting Identified

Police have identified the officer who shot and killed a 24-year-old after he allegedly fought with the officer in front of a liquor store in Richmond last Sunday.

Richmond police K-9 Officer Wallace “Wally” Jensen, 31, fatally shot Richard “Pedie” Perez after a struggle with the Richmond man just outside of Uncle Sam’s Liquor Store around 12:15 a.m. Sunday, according to police.

Jensen is a six-year veteran of the department and is a trained crisis negotiator, according to police Capt. Mark Gagan. He remains on paid administrative leave pending the results of an investigation by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, which is standard protocol following an officer-involved shooting, Gagan said.

He said autopsy results show that Perez was facing Jensen when the officer shot him three times in the upper torso. Gagan declined to comment further on the investigation into the shooting but said police Chief Chris Magnus and other officers planned to attend a noon memorial for Perez on Saturday at Nicholl Park in Richmond after receiving an invitation from his relatives.

“It is possible to acknowledge the tragic aspect of a situation without insinuating that our officer did not act appropriately,” the captain said.

“Tomorrow is a day for people to get together to talk about what Mr. Perez meant to them, and we understand that,” he said.

Perez was originally from Fairfield and attended Pinole Valley High School, according to his Facebook page.

Rhonda Reeder Perez, his aunt, described her nephew in a post on the Richmond Police Department’s Facebook page as a kind, generous man who “bought food for those that were hungry, money for those that were broke, love for those who were unloved and a laugh for those who needed to be cheered up.”

Police said Perez was intoxicated and belligerent when Jensen encountered him while patrolling the area near Uncle Sam’s Liquor Store at 3322 Cutting Blvd. a short time after midnight Sunday.

According to police, the officer asked Perez to sit down for a records check in front of the store but instead of complying, Perez attacked him.

Police said the two men fell to the ground and that Perez became increasingly aggressive toward Jensen, trying to grab his gun from its holster.

At one point during the struggle, Chief Magnus said in a statement, Perez “grabbed and held on to one of the officer’s hands, while using his other hand to simultaneously go for the officer’s gun.”

Magnus said at least one independent witness verified that description of what happened.

“The physically exhausted officer, fearing the suspect would overpower him and get his gun, fired three shots at the suspect, striking him in the chest,” Magnus said.

Police and district attorney’s office investigators are reviewing information from witnesses and video footage from the liquor store to determine the events that led up to the shooting.

--Bay City News