Richmond cop who killed drunken man is identified

A Richmond police officer who shot and killed a suspect at a liquor store was identified Friday as K-9 Officer Wallace Jensen, a trained crisis negotiator.

Jensen shot a "very intoxicated" Richard Perez, 24, at Uncle Sam's Liquors near Cutting and Carlson boulevards shortly after midnight Sunday when Perez grappled with the officer and grabbed at his gun, said Richmond police Capt. Mark Gagan.

But John Burris, an attorney for Perez's family, said his investigation "indicates that Mr. Perez, who was unarmed when shot by the officer, did not at any time attempt to take the officer's gun. The officer's claim is disputed by various witnesses."

The family plans to hold a noon rally Saturday at Nicholl Park in Richmond.

In a posting on the Richmond police Facebook page, Perez's aunt, Rhonda Reeder Perez, said her nephew was "a kind, loving and generous man. He was not dangerous, he was scared!"

Jensen had been conducting a security check at the liquor store, which has been the source of numerous police calls for service and had been temporarily closed last year for alcohol-related violations, Gagan said.

In 2009, Jensen and another officer fired their guns at a suspect in a crime spree but missed, police said.

The incident is the first fatal officer-involved shooting in Richmond since 2007, when police shot and killed an 18-year-old man near Sixth Street and Nevin Avenue after the suspect chased and shot at another man, police said.