Details In A Deadly, Tragic East Bay Police Shooting Under Investigation

WALNUT CREEK, CA — Authorities released more details about the death of a 46-year-old Walnut Creek man shot by police.

Joaquin Anthony Pereyra, 46, died early Thursday morning after being shot by a Walnut Creek Police officer.

Walnut Creek police said the officer involved in the shooting was responding to the report at 12:10 a.m. Thursday of a man wearing dark clothing looking into homes and parked vehicles with a flashlight.

The two officers who responded to the call found a man in the area of Alvarado and Buena Vista avenues whose appearance matched the description from the caller.

Police said he was holding what appeared to officers to be a firearm, but was a pellet gun that "closely resembled a handgun," Lt. Drew Olson said in a statement on social media.

An officer repeatedly ordered the man to drop pellet gun and then shot him when he did not.

Police gave him first aid, but he died from the gunshot wounds outside a home at 1907 Alvarado Ave.

Pereyra suffered from schizophrenia and refused to take medication, his mother, a former Contra Costa mental health commissioner, said publicly. Annie Pereyra said she set up surveillance cameras around her home and repeatedly filed restraining orders against him, as recently as September.

"My son probably was symptomatic in fifth grade," Annie Pereyra said. "He was tentatively diagnosed when he was 17, when he had his first psychotic break and was hospitalized, but they wouldn't officially diagnose him until he turned 18," she told ABC7 Eyewitness News.

Contra Costa County Fire Department paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. In addition to an investigation by the department, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the shooting under the Law Enforcement Involved Fatal Incident Protocol.

Body‑worn camera footage related to this incident will be released at a later time.

Gigi Crowder, CEO of Contra Costa County's chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness who knew the Pereyra family, told ABC7 Eyewitness News that county officials have failed to implement legislation like SB43, which expands involuntary treatment and conservatorship options for families trying manage mental health issues.

In 2019, Walnut Creek police shot and killed 23-year-old Miles Hall, who was experiencing a mental health crisis near his home, according to the Contra Costa District Attorney. According to reports, one officer struck Hall three times with beanbag rounds to subdue him. Officers KC Hsiao and Melissa Murphy then fired their weapons, killing Hall before a police mental health expert could arrive.

The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office concluded in 2021 that evidence was insufficient to charge Officers Hsiao and Murphy for fatally shooting Hall.

However, the shooting led to a $4 million settlement paid by Walnut Creek to the Hall family and for listening sessions to discuss policing and public safety, Walnut Creek's racial climate, and mental health issues, according to reports.

Hall's mother spoke after the 2021 ruling, ABC7 News reported, saying, "For us, it's tragic there are no consequences for these officers, but it's not surprising."