Outrage builds as video shows Idaho police shooting a knife-wielding
autistic teenager
[April 09, 2025]
By GENE JOHNSON, CLAUDIA LAUER and MARK THIESSEN
Idaho police officers opened fire from behind a chain-link fence just
seconds after exiting their patrol cars and critically wounded a teenage
boy — described by his family as nonverbal, autistic and intellectually
disabled — as he stepped toward them with a knife, video from a witness
shows.
Seventeen-year-old Victor Perez, who also has cerebral palsy, remained
hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday after having nine bullets
removed from his body and having his leg amputated, Ana Vazquez, his
aunt, told The Associated Press. Doctors were planning tests on his
brain activity.
“We don't know if he's going to wake up,” she said.
The shooting Saturday in Pocatello outraged the boy's family and
neighbors as well as viewers online who questioned why the officers
opened fire within about 12 seconds of exiting their patrol cars while
making no apparent effort to de-escalate the situation or use less
lethal weapons. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the police
department Sunday, eastidahonews.com reported.
There is no indication the police were aware of the boy's conditions.
“The police barely spoke to anyone,” Vazquez said. “They just said get
back and they just, they shot to kill.”
In a video statement posted to the Pocatello Police Department’s
Facebook page on Monday, Chief Roger Schei said he wanted to “provide
clarity, share the information we can at this stage and address some
misconceptions that have emerged.”
“We understand the concern and emotion surrounding the officer-involved
shooting that occurred,” he said, adding, “We are also aware of the
video circulating online, which shows only one angle. The full picture
requires careful review of all facts and evidence.”
The events that led to the shooting
Brad Andres, who took the video, has an auto shop nearby and told the AP
he noticed a disturbance when he stepped outside to take a phone call
around 5:20 Saturday. His 19-year-old son, Bridger, called 911 and
reported it as a domestic dispute in a backyard.
The 911 caller said an apparently intoxicated man — the teen — was
wielding a kitchen knife and periodically chasing a man and woman in the
yard, according to audio of the 911 call released by the Pocatello
Police Department.
“He seems pretty drunk," the caller told a dispatcher. "He’s just
running at them with a knife and then falling over. I think he just
stabbed himself, actually.”
The 911 caller noted that the people in the yard were not speaking
English.
“He looks like he fell on the ground and kind of passed out,” the caller
said.
Perez was still on the ground when police arrived at about 5:25 p.m.
Four officers ran to the fence — three pulling out handguns and another
pointing what appeared to be a shotgun. They ordered him to drop the
knife. Instead, the boy stood up and began taking steps toward them with
the knife in his hand. The officers shot repeatedly.
Andres said the police “appeared to be like a death squad or a firing
squad,” adding: “They never once asked, ‘What is the situation, how can
we help?’ They ran up with their guns drawn, they triggered a mentally
disabled person to react and when he reacted ... they shot him.”
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This image provided by Ana Vasquez shows Victor Perez, who was shot
after Idaho police officers opened fire from behind a chain-link
fence on Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Pocatello, Idaho. (Ana Vasquez
via AP)
“This was really traumatic for me to watch, for me and my son to be
a part of,” Andres said. “My son was the one that called the 911
with the hopes of helping the family deal with the situation that
was going on. He had no idea that what was going to transpire.”
Questions for the police
Schei said he would not answer questions about the shooting because
of an investigation being conducted by the East Idaho Critical
Incident Task Force.
“In situations like this, officers must make decisions in seconds,”
Schei said. “They assess threats not just to themselves but to those
nearby. In this case, two individuals were within a few feet of an
armed, noncompliant individual. The risk was immediate, and the
situation rapidly evolving.”
The Pocatello Police Department did not immediately respond to
emails seeking further comment Tuesday, including questions about
whether the officers were carrying Tasers or other less lethal
options.
According to the department's policy manual, all uniformed officers
who have been trained to use Tasers must carry them, as well as
either a baton or pepper spray.
Vazquez said Perez walked with a staggering gait because of his
disabilities; he was not intoxicated. The boy’s 16-year-old sister
yelled to the police not to shoot and that he was “special," Vazquez
said.
It was unclear if the police heard any such comments, which were not
apparent on the video.
Seth Stoughton, a former police officer who teaches at the
University of South Carolina Law School, said after watching the
video that he had questions about why the officers did not use less
lethal weapons or the basic tactic of backing up to create space
between them and Perez.
“It does not appear to me that any officer is in immediate danger at
the point where they begin shooting," Stoughton said. "If he had
made it over the fence and officers backed up and he continued to
approach … then that could change.”
Vazquez said the family had never called police for help with the
boy in the past and that this was his first interaction with law
enforcement.
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.
The trainings often focus in on ways people on the autism spectrum
react to outside stimulus like noise or touching, that can be seen
as resisting commands or resisting arrest to someone not on the
spectrum.
Some groups have started providing stickers or marked license plates
for people with autistic family members as a signal for police.
Pocatello is a city of just under 60,000 residents about 165 miles
(265 kilometers) north of Salt Lake City.
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