BOISE, Idaho — An autistic, nonverbal teenage boy who was shot repeatedly by Idaho police from the other side of a chain-link fence while he was holding a knife died Saturday after being removed from life support, his family said.
Victor Perez, 17, who also had cerebral palsy, had been in a coma since the April 5 shooting, and tests Friday showed that he had no brain activity, his aunt, Ana Vazquez, told The Associated Press. He had undergone several surgeries, with doctors removing nine bullets and amputating his leg.
Police in the southeast Idaho city of Pocatello responded to a 911 call reporting that an apparently intoxicated man with a knife was chasing someone in a yard. It turned out to be Perez, who was not intoxicated but walked with a staggered gait due to his disabilities, Vazquez said. His family members had been trying to get the large kitchen knife away from him.
Video taken by a neighbor showed that Perez was lying in the yard after falling over when four officers arrived and rushed to the fence at the edge of the yard. They immediately ordered Perez to drop the knife, but instead he stood and began stumbling toward them.
Officers opened fire within about 12 seconds of getting out of their patrol cars and made no apparent effort to de-escalate the situation.
“Everybody was trying to tell the police, no, no,” Vazquez said. “Those four officers didn’t care. They didn’t ask what was happening, what was the situation.”
“How’s he going to jump the fence when he can barely walk?” she said.
The shooting outraged Perez’s family and Pocatello residents, and about 200 people attended a vigil Saturday morning outside the Pocatello hospital where he was treated. Another crowd of protesters gathered outside the Pocatello City Hall building, which also houses the police department, on Saturday afternoon. Police snipers were stationed on a nearby rooftop during the protest, though no violence was reported. Many of the protesters held signs with phrases like, “Do better, PPD” and “Justice for Victor,” and passing cars honked in acknowledgment.
A police spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
“Those police broke our family,” Vasquez said on Saturday, shortly after Perez’ death. “There is no way to explain the pain that we are feeling right now. It’s like our hearts are kind of empty – it’s not full anymore.”
The officers, whose names have not been released, were placed on administrative leave.
Decisions about whether charges should be filed against them will be made after an independent investigation by the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Team, Bannock County Prosecutor Ian Johnson told the AP via email.
“When that investigation is complete a report will be submitted for review,” he said. “In a continued effort to ensure independent and objective consideration, said report will be reviewed by an agency outside of Bannock County.”
Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad said in a statement Friday, after the family announced that Perez had no brain activity, that officials’ thoughts and prayers were with them.
“We recognize the pain and grief this incident has caused in our community,” Blad said.
Blad said Thursday that the city was “addressing this matter with the seriousness and thoroughness it deserves and with the appropriate respect for the gravity of the situation.”
“The criminal, external, and internal investigations regarding the officer-involved shooting are underway, which is why we cannot answer questions out of concern of interfering with or compromising the investigation,” he said.
Perez loved watching professional wrestling, eating fries and taking walks while holding his mother’s hand, Vasquez said. He would always notice when Vasquez painted her nails his favorite color blue, or when she wore a new weave, showing his admiration by touching her hair, she said.
“I’m going to miss him when he used to get in his weird moods, and I used to put him to bed,” she said. “He wouldn’t want to sleep and would wake up again, and I would have to walk him back to the bed. I would promise him, ‘Hey, I’ll be back tomorrow but you need to lay down and sleep.'”
Vasquez said she didn’t know what was next for the family, other than that an autopsy will be performed on Monday. Right now, she said, they need a moment to rest.
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