A funeral will be held Tuesday afternoon for a 17-year-old Idaho boy with autism who was shot and killed by police earlier this month. The service for Victor Perez will be held at 3 p.m. local time at Cornelison Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Pocatello, his aunt, Ana Vazquez, said in a Facebook post. The funeral is open to the public.
Perez, whose family said he was autistic and had cerebral palsy, was shot nine times by police in the yard of his family’s Pocatello home after a neighbor called to report someone with a knife, according to officials.
The caller said other people appeared to be trying to get the knife from Perez. Vazquez previously told NBC News that the family was having a barbecue and Perez found a knife that family members had hidden. Perez’s sister was trying to get the knife from him, according to Vazquez.
She said the family was not in danger and Perez was not a threat to them. Police Chief Roger Schei said that officers had repeatedly ordered the teen to drop the knife. He said Perez stood up and advanced toward the officers while holding the weapon.
“In this case, two individuals were within a few feet of an armed, non-compliant individual,” Schei said at a news conference on Monday. “The risk was immediate, and the situation rapidly evolving.”
Video recorded by a bystander showed officers running up to the home and opening fire. There was a chain link fence between Perez and the officers, the video showed.
Vazquez said the officers did not take the time to find out what was going on before they shot him. She said Perez was having a mental health crisis at the time.
Perez was taken to the hospital in critical condition after the shooting. The family took him off life support on Saturday, one day after he was declared brain dead, Vazquez said. A forensic autopsy was completed on Monday, the Bannock County’s medical examiner said.
The four officers involved were immediately placed on administrative leave, a standard procedure.
The mayor’s office said criminal and internal investigations were launched, and the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force is conducting an external investigation into the shooting.
The four officers involved were immediately placed on administrative leave after the incident, which is standard procedure after a shooting, the city said.
