SUNNYVALE — A police officer who final yr fatally shot a person carrying a knife whereas experiencing a psychiatric disturbance — and who had known as 911 on himself — has been cleared of felony legal responsibility within the lethal encounter, in response to the Santa Clara County District Legal professional’s Workplace.
Emmanuel Perez Becerra, 19, was shot and killed by Sunnyvale police in March 2024 after he known as 911 on himself. Police stated he was holding a knife and was shot by an officer who was backing away from Perez. The teenager’s household has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in opposition to the town of Sunnyvale, the officer who shot Perez, and others. (Courtesy Pointer & Buelna LLP)
Whereas he faces no felony prosecution, Officer Kevin Lemos, together with the town of Sunnyvale, is the topic of a federal wrongful loss of life and extreme pressure lawsuit filed final month by the household of 19-year-old Emmanuel Perez Becerra, who preserve he didn’t pose a menace when he was killed on March 23, 2024.
A DA report on the capturing was launched Friday that cited a witness account in concluding that Lemos had “‘no choice’ but to use lethal force” on an approaching Perez Becerra.
“Officer Lemos reasonably believed he needed to use deadly force against Perez Becerra, such force was necessary, and the amount of force used was reasonable under the circumstances,” prosecutor Rob Baker wrote within the report.
The conclusion echoed what the Sunnyvale Division of Public Security stated publicly within the wake of the capturing, a discovering disputed by Perez Becerra’s household of their ongoing lawsuit.
“At the time of the shots, Emmanuel was not charging, running or making any aggressive motions towards Defendant Lemos who was a safe distance from him,” reads the submitting from Bay Space-based legislation agency Legal professionals for the Individuals.
In response to the report, Adante Pointer, one of many household’s attorneys, stated the conclusion “is disturbing but is unfortunately expected.”
“Very few prosecutors are willing to hold officers to the same standard of justice as an ordinary citizen,” Pointer stated Friday.
Perez Becerra’s household additionally contends that Lemos did not correctly cycle by way of less-lethal choices out there to him, together with utilizing his Taser, pepper spray or baton earlier than resorting to his service pistol.
Friday’s report addresses that time, citing an interview with Lemos stating that that the scenario escalated from “we have no eyes on somebody” to “now we have a guy with a knife,” and that “things were happening so fast, it didn’t cross my mind” to make use of his different pressure choices.
On the afternoon of the capturing, Perez Becerra known as 911 and requested police to answer “a naked man walking outside … with a knife,” with police solely studying on scene that he was the caller.
That dispatch excerpt was a part of a compilation of dispatch audio and video footage — from a police car dashboard, Lemos’ physique digital camera and an eyewitness mobile phone — performed for reporters just a few days after the capturing.
Within the video footage, Lemos and Officer Francis Ngo might be heard giving Perez Becerra repeated instructions, in particular person and thru the megaphone programs on their police automobiles, to drop the kitchen knife he was holding, which had a 7-inch blade. About two minutes after initially recognizing after which following him, Lemos fired two pictures at Perez Becerra, hitting him within the chest.
Footage confirmed that Perez Becerra didn’t increase the knife, and was about 10 ft away from Lemos when he was shot.
The DA report affords extra of Lemos’ rationalization for utilizing lethal pressure, with the officer stating that Perez Becerra was “wide eyed” and had taken a “running stance,” and that he “felt that if he did not fire his weapon, he would be stabbed.”
The report additionally cites Perez Becerra’s historical past of psychological sickness, which his household has additionally acknowledged, that features being identified with despair and schizophrenia a yr prior, indicators of suicidal ideation, and a minimum of two voluntary and involuntary admissions with county Emergency Psychiatric Companies. However the report additionally states that “any mental illness affecting Perez Becerra was not known to Officer Lemos when he decided to fire his weapon,” and “his mental health condition does not diminish the very real danger that he posed.”
