A 17-year-old autistic teen is brain-dead, his family says, after Idaho police shot him last week.
Victor Perez, who also has cerebral palsy, was declared brain-dead Friday after police shot nine times at a family barbecue in Pocatello, his aunt Ana Vazquez NBC News.
The incident stemmed from a 911 call on April 5, where someone reported that a man had a knife and other people appeared to be trying to get the weapon away from him. But Vazquez tells NBC News that Perez had found a hidden knife while at a family barbecue. Perez’s sister then tried to get the knife away from him, but the family was never in danger and Perez was never threatening them, Vazquez said.
Video of the incident shows four police officers running up to a chain-link fence at the home where the family had gathered and drawing their guns, shouting for Perez to get on the ground. When he stood up and walked forward, officers shot him.
The officers then performed “life-saving measures” after they shot Perez, the Pocatello Police Department said in a statement. Perez was taken by ambulance to the Portneuf Medical Center.
Police Chief Roger Schei says officers told Perez to drop the knife multiple times, and that he stood up and walked toward them while holding it.
“In this case, two individuals were within a few feet of an armed, non-compliant individual,” Schei told reporters at a news conference on Monday. “The risk was immediate, and the situation rapidly evolving.”
The 911 caller said a man who seemed intoxicated was wielding a kitchen knife and chasing a man and woman in the yard, according to audio of the call.
“He seems pretty drunk,” the caller told a dispatcher. “He’s just running at them with a knife and then falling over. I think he just stabbed himself, actually.”
Brad Andres, who took the video of the incident, told the Associated Press police “appeared to be like a death squad or a firing squad.”
“They never once asked, ‘What is the situation, how can we help?’ They ran up with their guns drawn, they triggered a mentally disabled person to react and when he reacted … they shot him,” Andres said.
The shooting is now being investigated by the East Idaho Critical Incident Task Force. The four officers involved have also been placed on administrative leave.
The incident — from the police running towards the fence to the shooting — occurred within the space of 20 seconds.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time. We recognize the pain and grief this incident has caused in our community,” Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad in a statement.
