An autistic teenager is fighting for his life after being shot by police multiple times in Idaho, sparking protests outside the local police department.
The 17-year-old’s family told local media he was shot nine times after police were called to a disturbance at the family’s home in Pocatello, just south of Yellowstone National Park, on Saturday evening.
Video from eyewitnesses shows the teenager rolling on the ground of his yard while waving what appeared to be a knife at a woman, who neighbors said was his mother, according to local media.
Neighbors told Local News 8 they called the police, hoping the officers would de-escalate the situation.
The video shows four police officers running up to the low chain-link fence and quickly drawing their weapons, shouting, “Get on the ground” to the teenager. With weapons pointed at him, the teen gets up, and then several shots are rapidly fired.
The whole incident – from the police beginning to run towards the fence to the shooting – occurred within the space of 20 seconds.
The Pocatello Police Department said officers responded to reports of a physical disturbance involving two males and a female at 5.22 pm on Saturday.
“It was reported that one of the male subjects was intoxicated and in possession of a knife,” the department said in a statement.
The department said officers arrived at 5.25 pm and were involved in a shooting “with the male subject who was armed with a knife.”
“Immediate life-saving measures were initiated by officers on the suspect, who was subsequently transported by ambulance [to] Portneuf Medical Center by the Pocatello Fire Department,” the statement said.
The teen’s family told Local News 8 that he was in a critical condition and that he had to have his leg amputated because of his injuries.
On Sunday afternoon, more than two dozen people gathered outside the Pocatello Police Department to protest the shooting, carrying placards. One of those signs read, “Why were your guns drawn?”.
A neighbour who witnessed the shooting said it “wasn’t a really dangerous situation”.
“He was having a really bad day with mental issues, but he wasn’t chasing anybody, and everybody could easily get out of the reach of his knife,” Brad Andres told Local News 8.
A woman, identified as the teen’s aunt, told the station the teen was not going after the police.
“He has [an] impairment. He can barely walk,” she said.
Dylan Harrison joined the protest and told Local News 8 that it was “horrifying” to watch police respond to “a child who was clearly experiencing a mental health crisis” with immediate force.
“Within 30 seconds of arriving Pocatello police, four off opened fire on that child,” he said, adding he hoped the teen pulled through and the officers were held accountable for the shooting.
“It highlights a much larger systemic issue that police respond with unnecessary force when they do not need to when the public needs help and support,” he said.
“I can’t imagine anyone in the community trusting police after this. They, again, were called to help with a minor having a mental health episode in his front yard, and they put him on death’s door – he’s in the hospital fighting for his life.”
The police department said the East Idaho Critical Incident Task Force will investigate the incident.
