Walnut Creek mayor, police describe ongoing review after officer-involved shooting; family and residents seek better mental-health response

Mayor Kevin Wilk opened the March 3 Walnut Creek City Council meeting by addressing a police-related death that occurred the previous week and asked Police Chief Ryan Hibbs to brief the council.

Chief Hibbs said the incident occurred after midnight when officers responded to a report of a person looking into homes and parked vehicles. Officers encountered an individual they reasonably believed to be armed and gave multiple commands to drop the weapon, which were not followed. The officers, acting under their duties, shot the individual; the weapon was later determined to be a pellet gun. The person who died was identified in the meeting as Tony Pereira.

"This incident is now under independent and thorough review," Chief Hibbs said, adding that the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave and that both officers were wearing body-worn cameras that were activated. He said the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office is conducting a parallel investigation under the law enforcement fatal-incident protocol and that the department will complete an administrative investigation. Video and 911 recordings will be released in accordance with California law and investigative timelines, which can allow up to 45 days.

The mayor urged respect for the investigative process and compassion for everyone affected. "We'll continue to support the independent investigations by the Walnut Creek Police Department and the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office," he said.

During the public communications period that followed, two speakers described struggles getting help for residents with severe mental illness. Barbara Scott Crispy identified herself as a friend of the family and urged action to prevent another tragedy. Linda Ruiz, identifying herself as the mother of a son with autism and serious mental illness, described months of decompensation and repeated attempts to secure hospital care that she said had not succeeded.

Mayor Wilk and city staff offered immediate next steps: high-ranking police captains would meet the speakers after the meeting to discuss options, and the mayor noted nonemergency Walnut Creek Police Department contacts, the 988 crisis number, and the Miles Hall call center as resources. City Manager Dan Buckshay provided more detail on the county's A3 mobile response program, which he described as a 24/7 mobile crisis-response system with tiered responses—from peer-support workers to clinician-plus-law-enforcement teams—designed to arrive on-site as warranted and to triage calls to the appropriate responder.

Buckshay said A3 has roughly 34 response teams and aims for on-site responses when appropriate within about 20 minutes; he emphasized calling 911 if the situation is dangerous. He also noted ongoing statewide conversations about care courts for involuntary treatment in extreme cases.

The council did not take formal action on the shooting or the public comments during the meeting; Mayor Wilk said staff and the police would follow up with the affected family and that investigators will release evidence as legally permitted.

Next steps: the Walnut Creek Police Department and the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office will continue parallel reviews; the city will follow up with the residents who spoke and indicated police leadership would meet them immediately after the meeting.