An Idaho student with autism who was hospitalized for a year after being shot by police died over the weekend.
The Bannock County Coroner’s Office confirmed to the Idaho Statesman that Victor Perez, who was actually impaired, died after four soldiers from the Pocatello Police Department shot him many days outside his home next year.
His family took him off of life support Saturday after testing showed he did n’t have any brain activity, The Associated Press reported. He was 17. The Bannock County Prosecutor is expected to perform an examination.
“Those police broke our family, ” his aunt , Ana Vasquez, told the AP. “There is no way to explain the problems that we are feeling straight now. It’s like our souls are kind of clear — it ’s no full again. ”
The killing has sparked outrage in the eastern Idaho area after video footage circulated on social media, and showed four soldiers opening fire on Victor behind a gate. The affair began a small before 5:30 p. m. Saturday, April 5, after a cousin called 911 to report a gentleman wielding a razor in the garden of a Pocatello house. Within 20 hours of arriving, the four soldiers opened fireplace, striking the man, later identified as 17-year-old Victor.
Video footage of the firing taken by the cousin showed the four officials get out of their vehicles, bring their guns, line up behind the yard’s chain link fence— which was between them and the young — and cry at him to lose his weapon.
Victor began to walk up as the soldiers approached the garden, but before he could take more than two actions toward them, they fired their weapons.
Victor’s community told the AP that hardly any of the officials spoke to near family members before firing. The cousin on the 911 call said Victor looked intoxicated. If authorities had stopped to ask a problem, they may have learned that he was n’t intoxicated but otherwise remarkable because of his cerebral palsy, his granddaughter said.
“Everybody was trying to tell the police, ‘No, no, ’” Vazquez told the AP. “Those four soldiers did n’t attention. They did n’t inquire what was happening, what was the condition. ”
“How’s he going to jump the gate when he can scarcely move? ” she said.
In the week since Victor was shot, group members have held protests calling for officers transparency and a lighting vigil inside the Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello to lament the teenage child. More than 5,500 citizens have also signed a Change. org complaint calling for an independent investigation into the filming as of Monday afternoon.
Pocatello Police Chief Roger Schei said at a news conference that the soldiers gave “repeated orders ” to Victor to drop the weapon. He said the girl did n’t agree, stood up, and advanced toward the soldiers “while also armed. ”
“ In situations like this, officers must make decisions in seconds, they assess threats not just to themselves but to those nearby, ” Schei said. “ In this case, two persons were within a couple feet of an armed improper person. The danger was urgent, and the situation quickly evolving. ”
Prosecutor to decide whether to release officers ’ names
Per the city ’s policy, all of the officers, who have n’t been identified, were placed on administrative leave immediately after the shooting , Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad said in a speech.
It’s unclear how long the soldiers will be on left. The Pocatello Police Department did n’t answer to many phone calls or an email seeking quality.
The Bannock County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting as part of the Eastern Idaho Essential Incident Task Force. Authorities are also conducting an inner research, Schei said.
For some law enforcement agencies in Idaho, officers killings are investigated through a Important Incident Task Force, or CITF. In East Idaho, over a hundred counties are involved in the task power, and when one company is involved in a shooting, another company is asked to step on and investigate the incident.
When the investigation is complete, it will be handed over to an outside attorney to evaluate the results and decide whether the soldiers should face criminal charges. A prosecutor has n’t been assigned yet , Emma Iannacone, a spokeswoman for the state, told the Statesman.
Iannacone said it would be up to the attorney to release the officers ’ names. Body-camera film is expected to be released in the coming months, Blad said.
It’s exceptional for soldiers to be criminally charged following a shooting. In the last 20 years, just two law enforcement officers in Idaho — Idaho Falls Police Department Officer Elias Cerdas and Nez Perce Tribal Officer Robert Wall — faced legal costs. Both scenarios were later dismissed.
Blad said the town ’s addressing the affair “with the sincerity and precision it deserves. ”
“We certainly recognize the problems and problems of this circumstance, ” Blad said. “Everyone is looking for solutions, including me and the City Council. That is why it is essential to allow the Eastern Idaho Essential Incident Task Force and some finish their studies. ”
“Once the studies are perfect, we may act in accordance with the results. No assessments will be made until the independent researchers have done their job, ” he added.
___
© 2025 The Idaho Statesman.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
