A 17-year-old boy with mental and physical disabilities was shot nine times by cops in his front yard. He is now fighting for his life, and his family is asking why this happened.
Victor Perez was shot at his home in Pocatello, Idaho, on Saturday, just as the cops arrived. His family told local news outlets that he was having a mental health problem and had a knife in his hand.
The only thing the police have done to officially identify Perez is confirm his age. However, his family told local news sites that he was who they said he was. His family said he has cerebral palsy, which makes it hard for him to walk, and that he only knows a little English.
KIFI TV reported that the boy’s family was told that one of his three operations at the hospital after the shooting cut off his left leg. He is still in serious condition. A video shared on Facebook by a witness shows a person lying on the ground with a knife in their hand in a garden. A woman can be seen arguing with him, telling him “no, no,” and trying to hold him back or grab the knife.
Four armed police officers start yelling “Drop the knife” from behind the steel yard fence at 2:44. Perez has a hard time standing up before he moves towards the police. At 2:58, the officers fire, and his family screams in fear.
Ana Vazquez, Perez’s aunt, told KIFI, “He thinks like a five-year-old.” He has a disability. He has a hard time walking. “People in this area can tell you that.”
She also told him that he can calm down when he gets angry. “We can always keep him in queue,” she told the station.
In a statement released Saturday, the police said they were called to a “reported physical disturbance involving two male subjects and a female.” The statement also said that “it was reported that one of the male subjects was drunk and in possession of a knife.”
A picture of the knife Perez was carrying was shown at a news conference Monday night by Pocatello Police Chief Roger Schei. The 911 call was played for the police. Someone called 911 and said that one man was hitting another with a stick.
Schei told the reporters that he couldn’t answer their questions because investigations were still going on. The shooting is being looked into by the Pocatello Police and the East Idaho Critical Incident Task Force.
He said that the police told Perez “many times” to drop the knife.
“He did not comply — instead he stood up and advanced towards the officers while still armed,” Schei added. “At that point officers discharged their firearms, stopping when the male fell.”
Schei defended his officers’ actions by saying, “In this kind of situation, officers have to make a choice in seconds.” They look at threats not only to themselves but also to people close.
“In this case, two individuals were within a few feet of an armed noncompliant individual — the risk was immediate and the situation rapidly evolving.”
Schei said officers gave life-saving treatment before he was taken to Portneuf Regional Medical Center in Pocatello. He also said that the police knew the event had “deeply affected the community.”
He said that “all facts and evidence” should be looked at and that the video of the shooting going around the internet only shows one view.
Brad Andres, who says he took the video, told KIFI that he didn’t think there was a reason to use force under the law.
“He was having a really bad day with mental problems, but he wasn’t chasing anybody, and everybody could easily get out of the reach of his knife. “That means this wasn’t really dangerous,” he said.
On Sunday, some people in the area protested the killing outside of the Pocatello Police Department.
“Why were your guns drawn?” was written on one of the protesters’ homemade signs.