Advertisement

SWAT officer fatally shot a knife-wielding man in Yolo County standoff, video shows

A SWAT officer with the West Sacramento Police Department fatally shot a man moments after he exited a trailer in rural Yolo County holding a knife and covered in blood, following a standoff that began with law enforcement agencies attempting to serve a warrant for the man’s arrest, newly released video shows.

The city of West Sacramento on Wednesday released body camera and drone footage from the Feb. 14 incident, which took place at a property on County Road 88C in Dunnigan, just west of Interstate 5.

A SWAT team made up of Yolo County sheriff’s deputies, Woodland police officers and West Sacramento police officers arrived at that location to serve a search warrant and arrest warrant for 63-year-old Hector Perez, who was wanted on suspicion of child molestation, according to the West Sacramento Police Department.

Perez also had a prior conviction for felony assault on an officer, authorities said in the video release.

What does the video show?

SWAT teams approached Perez’s residence — a trailer partially covered by blue tarp, located on the rear of a rural home – around 8 a.m. on Valentine’s Day.

Three SUVs and an armored vehicle drove onto the property, with five SWAT officers riding on the exterior of the lead SUV, overhead drone video showed. An explosive ordnance disposal van could also be seen parked near the property.

The first arriving officers attempted to make contact with Perez for about four hours but received no response, according to the video.

Officers used a robot to break windows of the trailer and two drones to determine whether Perez was inside, the video showed. Both drones “became disabled after entry,” the West Sacramento Police Department wrote in text accompanying the video.

SWAT teams then approached the trailer on foot and used a “pole camera” in another effort to locate Perez. As one of the officers inserted the camera into a bathroom window by hand, Perez attempted to yank it away, the video showed.

As Perez allegedly took hold of the camera, some of the officers began to draw their firearms and point them toward the window. A few seconds later, one of the officers could be heard directing the others to fall back to the armored vehicle.

More than a half-dozen officers could then be seen walking backwards away from the trailer, at least two of them holding ballistic shields, the video showed.

After the retreat, officers again attempted to contact Perez using public address speakers but received no response, authorities said. The SWAT teams then positioned the armored vehicle closer to the front door of the trailer.

One of the officers tossed a cellphone inside the trailer, the Police Department said, but Perez did not use it.

At this point, with Perez still barricaded, officers deployed tear gas into the trailer.

Perez exited the trailer at 12:35 p.m., about 10 seconds after one of the tear gas canisters was fired. He was holding a 12-inch kitchen knife, body camera video showed.

A West Sacramento police officer fired a less-lethal round, but it was “ineffective” and Perez continued to hold the knife, according to the Police Department.

Within 10 seconds of the less-lethal rounds being fired, a second West Sacramento officer, this one stationed on top of the armored vehicle, discharged his firearm at Perez twice, striking him at least once. Police said Perez was walking toward the side of the trailer, where other officers were stationed, when the officer opened fire.

Officers secured the knife, and members of the SWAT team began to render medical aid. Paramedics staged nearby took over medical treatment, pronouncing Perez dead at the scene a short time later, the Police Department said.

Parts of Perez’s clothing were covered in blood before he exited the trailer, the videos showed. The source of the blood was not immediately clear. Some blood was also visible on the knife.

Where does the investigation stand?

The officer who discharged his firearm is a seven-year veteran of the West Sacramento Police Department, the department said in a previous statement.

No one else was inside the trailer at the time of the shooting, spokesman Lt. Dan Beckwith of the Davis Police Department said last month.

The officer-involved shooting remains under external investigation by the Davis Police Department and the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office under county policy for fatal officer-involved incidents, because the Davis Police Department was not involved in the shooting, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The incident is also being investigated internally by the Sheriff’s Office, the Woodland Police Department and the West Sacramento Police Department.