The aunt, an Idaho teenager who was shot nine times by police, said that officers should have spent more time assessing the situation before they fired the weapon.
Victor Perez remained in danger at the hospital Thursday and has not regained consciousness since the shooting at Pocatello on Saturday, his aunt Anna Vasquez said.
Perez, 17, who has autism and cerebral palsy, was taking a knife during the family barbecue, so his sister was trying to escape from him when her neighbor called the police, Vasquez said.
“He called to see officers help us,” she said.
The shooting, filmed on video, sparked protests in around 56,300 cities.
“The police didn’t even ask what the situation was when they arrived,” Vasquez said. She said the officers had passed the other family members.
“They didn’t listen. They didn’t even hesitate to shoot,” Vasquez said. “They just shoot to kill them.”
Mayor Brian Brad said in a statement Thursday that the shootings were tragic and a thorough investigation is ongoing. He said his idea was in the Perez family.
The four officers quickly took administrative leave. This is a standard police policy, Brad said.
“We are working with the severity and thoroughness that is appropriate for this issue and with the appropriate respect for the gravity of the situation,” he said. “Crimes, external and internal investigations involving officers are underway.”
Police Chief Roger Shay said officers repeatedly ordered Perez to drop the knife, and that he had moved towards them while Perez stood up and held the weapon.
911 Cole said it appears that someone is trying to stab someone else with a knife.
“In this case, the two individuals were within a few feet of armed, non-compliant individuals,” Shay said at a press conference Monday. “The risks were immediate and the situation was evolving rapidly.”
My teenage aunt said that the family hid the knife, but Perez found it and took it. Her relative was trying to get it from him, she said.
“The kids weren’t threatening us. He wasn’t doing that,” she said. “We were trying to remove the knife from his hand.”
Videos from witnesses captured the incident. A video posted on Facebook shows a person on the ground holding a knife in his yard. “No, no,” you can be seen enlightening him with him, restraining him, or grabbing a knife.
At the 2:44 mark, the police arrive and four armed officers begin screaming “Drop the knife” from behind the steel garden fence. Perez struggles to stand before moving towards the officer who fires at 2:58, followed by a horrifying cry of his family.
Perez is connected to a hospital machine, Vazquez said.
“We’re in devastation. We go there every day and talk to our kids. We see if there’s any improvement,” she said. “That’s why we’re just waiting.”
The family, originally from the western Puerto Rico, said they were surprised and grateful for the support they received from the Idaho community.
“It’s a great community,” she said.
