17-year-old autistic teenager, who is also physically disabled, has been shot 9 times by police, Pocatello Police Department said in a statement.
The teenager sustained critical injuries and is left fighting for his life.
According to the police, they were alerted of a disturbance at the family’s home in Pocatello, just south of Yellowstone National Park, on Saturday evening after a neighbour saw the teen in question, Victor Perez, rolling on the ground of his yard.
When the police arrived at the scene, they believed Perez was waving with a knife at a female person, who turned out to be his mother.
In a live broadcast, Chief Roger Schei
Brad Andres and his 19-year-old son, who own an autobody shop near the Perez’ family home, made the call to the police. “He’s just running at them with a knife and then falling over. I think he just stabbed himself, actually. […] He looks like he fell on the ground and kind of passed out,” the call that CBS News reported revealed.
The Chief’s statement continued: “Two females were just a few feet away in the yard and another male stood just outside the fence. Officers positioned just outside the yard gave repeated commands for the male to drop the knife. He did not comply, instead he stood up and advanced towards the officers while still armed.
“At that point, officers discharged their firearms, stopping when the male fell. PPD officers immediately began life-saving measures and the male was transported to the Portland Medical Center where he remains hospitalized.”
Andres, who witnessed the shooting, recorded a video and described it as the most graphic instance of police abuse he has ever seen.
“They never once asked, ‘What is the situation, how can we help?'” Andres said. “They ran up with their guns drawn, they triggered a mentally disabled person to react and when he reacted… they shot him.”
Andres added that the officers didn’t help de-escalate a situation. Instead, they “appeared to be like a death squad or firing squad.”
“You can see that the kid, after he was shot, wounded and down on the ground in pain, suffering from the shots, they continued to shoot at him,” Andres told East Idaho News, as per the Daily Mail.
“It looked sketchy. There’s a knife, there’s things in danger, so my son made the correct call to call 911 with the goal of helping his neighbor with this situation.”
He added that no one was in immediate danger.
Perez’s aunt said that her nephew was not going after the police. “He has [an] impairment. He can barely walk,” she said.
Following the incident in which Perez required resuscitation twice and underwent leg amputation, the public erupted in outrage over the police’s act.
According to Idaho News, the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force is conducting an investigation.
Chief Schei defended the officers, saying, “In situations like this, officers must make decisions in seconds, they asses threats, not just to themselves, but to those nearby. In this case, two individuals were within a few feat of an armed, non-compliant individual – the risk was immediate and the situation rapidly evolving.
“We know this incident has deeply affected the community, we are also aware of the videos circulating online which shows only one angle. The full picture requires careful review of all facts and evidence – PPD is not releasing the male’s name but can confirm he is 17 years old.”
Dylan Harrison, who was among the protesters in front of the police department, seeking justice for Perez, “highlights a much larger systemic issue that police respond with unnecessary force when they do not need to when the public needs help and support.”
He told Local News 8 that it was “horrifying” to watch police respond to “a child who was clearly experiencing a mental health crisis” with force.
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