FREMONT — A man found dead Sunday night after an exchange of gunfire with police died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the Alameda County Coroner’s Office said Tuesday.
He was identified Tuesday by the coroner’s office as Roger Perez, 24, of Orinda. There were no other gunshot wounds to his body, Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said.
The deadly confrontation began at 11:37 p.m. Sunday when an East Bay Regional Parks police officer stopped a vehicle carrying several occupants near the 7-Eleven store located at 35015 Fremont Blvd., according to police.
The parks officer called Fremont police for assistance and one of the car occupants ran from the vehicle with a gun, police said.
Fremont officers found Perez across the street in an alley behind the Walgreens store located at 3860 Decoto Road on top of a box truck vehicle, police said.
Perez reportedly fired his weapon at police, prompting the officers to return fire, police said.
It was apparently after the officers shot at him that he shot himself, authorities said. Medical personnel pronounced Perez dead at the scene.
A gun was recovered at the scene, police said.
The deadly confrontation follows two other fatal incidents involving Fremont officers this year.
On Feb. 5, officers fatally shot 45-year-old Fremont resident Nana Adomako after an altercation with an officer responding to a battery call.
Then on March 14, officers fatally shot 16-year-old Elena Mondragon of Antioch, who was later revealed to have been pregnant. Fremont officers had spotted a vehicle in which Mondragon was a passenger in Hayward.
The vehicle had been reported stolen and was allegedly involved in multiple armed robberies. Officers fired at the vehicle after the vehicle’s driver struck their patrol car.
An investigation into Sunday’s incident remains under investigation by police and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
In a GoFundMe memorial-fund page set up on his mother’s behalf, Perez’s sister Jennifer remembered him as a son, brother, uncle, great-uncle and cousin to family members.
“Roger worked at a local parts store, and in his free time he visited his many family members and friends. He loved to dress nice and loved cars. He was respectful to his elders,” Jennifer Perez said. “We are raising money to lay him to rest peacefully.”
