Idaho police have released bodycam footage of officers’ fatal shooting of a non-verbal autistic teenager who was holding a knife.
Victor Perez, 17, died on Apr. 13, eight days after being shot by Pocatello Police Department officers who were called to his family home after receiving reports of a man armed with a knife chasing people.
Bodycam footage of the incident shows an officer running to the scene on Apr. 5, shows Perez laying on his belly in the front yard, holding a knife in his left hand.
“Drop the knife!,” the officer yelled as he pulled out his handgun.
Two family members in the front yard seemed to try and calm officers down, with one man by the fence appearing to hold up his hand as if to call for restraint, according to Idaho News 6.
As the officer continued to yell “drop the knife,” Perez stood up still gripping the weapon.
The 17-year-old appeared to take a half-step toward the cop, which is when the officer opened fire from the other side of the fence, according to the bodycam footage.
Perez, who also had cerebral palsy, entered a coma, underwent several surgeries including a leg amputation, but was taken off life support last week, according to the Associated Press.
Those surgeries removed nine bullets from the teens body.
Officers fired the first shots less than 15 seconds after getting out of their police cruisers and made no apparent effort to deescalate the situation.
The shooting has prompted local outrage, with several Pocatello residents picketing the police department, the AP reported.
“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,” protestor Dylan Harrison told Idaho News 6.
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