Police in Idaho released body-worn and security camera recordings Thursday showing officers fatally shooting a knife-wielding, intellectually disabled teenage boy from the other side of a chain link fence, confirming that they made no effort to de-escalate the situation before opening fire.
Victor Perez was autistic and nonverbal and had cerebral palsy, though there is no indication the responding officers were aware of that. The 17-year old was removed from life support and died in a hospital a week after the shooting, and a law firm said Wednesday it intends to file a federal wrongful death suit against the city of Pocatello on behalf of his family.
Perez was in a confrontation in his fenced yard with family members who tried to get the blade away from him on April 5 when a neighbor called 911, reporting that an apparently intoxicated man armed with a knife — Perez, who walked with a staggered gait due to his disabilities — was chasing people in the yard.
Perez had fallen over and was on the ground when officers arrived. Guns drawn, they repeatedly yelled, “Drop the knife!” but he instead stood up and began to step toward them. Three officers opened fire with their handguns, while a fourth fired a bean-bag shotgun, officials said Thursday.
The shots came just seconds after the officers got out of their vehicles.
The city’s release of the videos included text slides that stressed that Perez was approaching the officers, who were on the other side of a chain link fence from him, while holding the knife, and that he was close to two family members who were behind him.
“Whether or not Perez had a medical condition or was experiencing a mental health crisis was not provided to dispatch or known to officers,” one slide read.
The shooting has outraged community members who questioned why the officers fired without trying to learn more about the situation, use de-escalation techniques or use less-lethal force. About 200 people attended a vigil Saturday morning outside the Pocatello hospital where Perez died, and another crowd of protesters gathered that afternoon outside Pocatello City Hall, which also houses the police department.
Police Chief Roger Schei and Mayor Brian Blad have declined to answer questions about the shooting, citing an investigation being conducted by the East Idaho Critical Incident Task Force. The officers’ names have not been released.
Law enforcement officials say it is not always appropriate for police to use de-escalation techniques, especially when there is danger to the officers or the public or if a subject is not complying with orders.
But policing experts who have reviewed cellphone video of Perez’s shooting note that there was a fence between the officers and the teen, that they used lethal force instead of Tasers and that they failed to use the basic tactic of backing up to create space between them and Perez.
Brad Andres, who recorded video of the shooting on his phone after his son called 911, said the police “appeared to be like a death squad or a firing squad.”
“They never once asked, ‘What is the situation, how can we help?’” he said. “They ran up with their guns drawn, they triggered a mentally disabled person to react and when he reacted … they shot him.”