Family claims Jose Evans was in a state of mental distress when he was shot by police in North Riverside

NORTH RIVERSIDE, Ill. (WLS) — Family members are questioning why police in North Riverside shot and killed a man.

They said 42-year-old Jose Evans of Crest Hill was killed in the shooting.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Cellphone video from a witness at the scene shows the moments leading up to the shooting.

Audible gunfire captured on video Evans is seen with two knives in his hands, ducking from gunshots as he runs from officers.

RELATED: Knife-wielding man killed in police-involved shooting in North Riverside, officials say

The bullets that were fired on Sunday afternoon struck the windows of multiple parked cars in front of an apartment complex near Cermak and 3rd Avenue in North Riverside.

Law enforcement officials reported that they were summoned to the location due to a disturbance, and an officer shot Evans while protecting someone present at the scene. The 42-year-old individual passed away later at the hospital.

“Somebody has to take accountability,” Evans’ cousin, Jesus Sanchez, said. ” Obviously if he’s running away, there’s no threat there.”

Evans’ family said he was there visiting his girlfriend and suffering from a mental episode when officers arrived.

“I am desperate to understand the sequence of events; my son struggles with mental health issues and was shot,” voiced Evans’ mother Donne Evans. “I rushed to the hospital, only to be denied access to see him.”

They understand he was armed with knives but question why officers couldn’t use less lethal tactics to diffuse the situation.

“We understand they had to diffuse the threat,” Sanchez said. “But if he was attacking the officers it would be all force – but he was running away. Got shot in the back”

A neighbor who witnessed the whole thing said Evans was walking around with knives “as big as his head,” he describes and officers appeared to have acted in defense.

Police said the responding officers were wearing body cameras at the time. Evans’ family would like to see that bodycam video. In the meantime, the State Police Public Integrity Task Force is now investigating the shooting.