Four Idaho police officers who fatally shot an autistic, nonverbal teenage boy who was holding a knife on the other side of a chain-link fence in April were justified in their actions and will not face criminal charges, the state attorney general said Wednesday.
Victor Perez, 17, was in a coma for a week before dying April 12 after doctors removed nine bullets during several surgeries and amputated his leg. The shooting in southeast Idaho city of Pocatello, which was captured on video, drew outrage from members of the community who questioned why the officers opened fire within 12 seconds of exiting their vehicles.
The Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office asked Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador to review the case to determine whether the officers committed a crime and if their use of force was justified. Labrador said the investigation showed that the officers did not know Perez’s age or disabilities, and they were only told an intoxicated man was threatening people with a knife.
“Believing that individuals were in danger of being stabbed, the officers chose to run toward the fence in case the officers needed to take immediate action to protect others from harm,” he said in a letter to the prosecutor. “The officers’ decision to place themselves at the fence to protect others made the officers vulnerable to a knife attack from someone standing immediately on the other side of the fence.
“Under Idaho law, the officers did not have a duty to retreat from the fence before using deadly force,” Labrador said. These factors would make a criminal prosecution untenable, so they will not file charges against the officers, he said.
Ben Nisenbaum, an Oakland, California, lawyer representing the family in a wrongful death claim against the city of Pocatello, said the family was deeply disappointed by the attorney general’s decision, arguing that the officers had a duty to retreat.
“At the end of the day, anyone responding to that situation would know he was developmentally disabled by the way he was acting. It was obvious,” Nisenbaum told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “Stepping away was what a reasonable person would do.”
Email and phone messages seeking comment from Pocatello Police Chief Roger Schei about the attorney general’s decision and whether the officers faced discipline were not immediately returned.
Perez, who is autistic, has an abnormal gait and other medical conditions had managed to get ahold of a large kitchen knife on April 5 and was walking around the yard swinging it. Video shows his grandfather, mother and 16-year-old sister trying to take it from him.
A person who saw the struggle called 911, saying it appeared the person was intoxicated and was trying to stab people. Three officers arrived and approached the backyard carrying Glock handguns, and a fourth officer had a beanbag shotgun. The sister waved her arms at the officers and shouted, but they focused their attention on Perez, who was lying on the ground, the attorney general’s letter said.
They shouted for Perez to drop the knife, and he got up on his knees. He pointed the blade to the sky as he fell forward, catching himself with his hand. He stood up and stepped toward the officers and they opened fire — releasing fourteen bullets and a beanbag shot. Investigators estimated the distance between them and Perez was about 12 feet (3.6 meters).
The Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force investigated the shooting. The autopsy said the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds. The officers gave interviews to the task force, but they declined to speak with the attorney general’s office, the letter said. Instead, they sent audio recordings and transcripts of interviews they gave to a third party, the letter said.
After reviewing the material collected, the attorney general said they won’t file criminal charges against the officers “because the state would be unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers’ use of force was not justified.”
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