On Saturday, March 5th, a shooting happened in Pocatello, Idaho.
Seventeen-year-old Victor Perez remained hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday after having nine bullets removed from his body. He was shot for holding a knife and not backing up from the police. His family said he was experiencing a mental health crisis and was brandishing a knife in their backyard when police arrived.
The 911 caller said that there was a teen with a knife chasing a man and a women, the caller mentioned that the teen looked drunk, and noted that the people in the yard were not speaking English.
The police told the teen to drop his knife when they arrived, but instead, he started taking steps towards the police with the knife in his hands which made the police shoot him repeatedly.
- Former police officer, Seth Stoughton who teaches at the the University of South Carolina Law School, saw the video of the shooting and questioned why the officers did not use less lethal weapons to create space between them and the teen, Perez.
- Brad Anders, who took the video of the police firing bullets on Perez, said that the police did not even ask what was going on or why Perez was acting this way. They just immediately shot him. Andres also clarified that it was a traumatic moment to watch and that he had to be a part of it.
Perez’s parents and family are truly saddened for what happened to their son. They said they are not sure if he is going to wake up or not.
Across the country, police departments are increasing training for officers on best ways to identify and interact with people who may have developmental or intellectual disabilities, including many trainings centering on autism.
All this information was gathered from CBSNEWS.COM, if you would like to keep up with this recent event, here are some links you should visit ↓
