Officer(s) Involved: Four Pocatello Police Department officers, none of whom have been identified as of time of publication. All four officers have been placed on administrative leave.
Synopsis: Police in the southwest Idaho city of Pocatello responded to a 911 call on 5 April 2025, reporting that an apparently intoxicated man with a knife was chasing someone in a yard. It turned out to be Victor Perez, 17, who was not intoxicated but walked with a staggered gait due to his disabilities, according to his aunt Ana Vazquez. 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.
The shooting outraged Perez’s family and Pocatello residents, and a vigil had been planned for Saturday morning outside the Pocatello hospital where he was treated.
Perez, who also had cerebral palsy, had been in a coma since the 5 April shooting, and tests Friday showed that he had no brain activity, according to his aunt. He had undergone several surgeries, with doctors removing nine bullets and amputating his leg.
Perez died on 12 April 2025 after being removed from life support.
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.”
Outcome: Decisions about whether charges should be filed against one or more of the police officers will be made after an independent investigation by the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Team, according to Bannock County Prosecutor Ian Johnson.
Johnson also added “When that investigation is complete a report will be submitted for review. In a continued effort to ensure independent and objective consideration, said report will be reviewed by an agency outside of Bannock County.”
Here is a link to video of the incident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=424Ao5Z22mU
