A 15-year-old boy shot and killed by police during what family members contend was a mental health crisis was holding a kitchen knife and ignoring commands to drop the blade when the officers opened fire on him, according to body-worn camera footage released on Thursday, July 30.
Read more Trump-branded commemorative passports will become available across the US
A “critical incident community briefing” video including the recording of a 911 call that brought two officers to the apartment where Jaden Michaca was shot and killed, and body-worn camera video footage from the officers that captured the shooting, was posted by the Santa Ana Police Department.
The video shows the officers opening fire on Michaca less than a minute after they forced their way into the apartment, after the officers repeatedly ordered — and Michaca’s mother repeatedly pleaded — for him to drop a kitchen knife.
The video also shows that no mental health team was present — despite previous calls to the apartment where they had deescalated a situation with Michaca — and the officers did not appear to use tasers or other less-than-lethal weapons.
Warning: Some viewers may find this video disturbing.
Michaca’s mother — who was reportedly struck in the thumb by the gunfire as she watched Jaden get shot to death — has accused the officers of being “trigger happy,” and has filed a claim against the city of Santa Ana accusing the two officers of neglect.
In a 911 call released by police, the fiancé of Michaca’s mother at 10:26 p.m. on June 14 asked a dispatcher to send an officer to their apartment, saying the teen was arguing with his mother. During the call, the man sounded calm and made no mention of mental health services, the recording shows.
“We have this issue with my fiancé’s son that he is being like using and abusing alcohol and drugs before and then he’s been acting up, breaking stuff before,” the man told the 911 dispatcher. “So, right now he is taking pills and stuff that doesn’t belong to him.”
At 10:33 p.m. — less than ten minutes after the 911 call — the two officers arrived at the apartment complex, according to the timestamps on their body-worn cameras.
The officers are met by the mother’s fiancé, who shows them where he claimed Jaden had stabbed him on his upper right arm with a kitchen knife, which he had gotten away from Jaden. The man tells the officers that Jaden is still in the apartment with his mother. The mother could be heard on the video footage loudly pleading, “Deja el cuchillo,” Spanish for “drop the knife.”
“I f—— can’t take it anymore,” Jaden can be heard telling his mother on the body-worn camera footage, as one of the officers pounded on the apartment door. “I want to die.”
The officers decide to force their way into the apartment, according to the footage, and one of them kicks the front door open. “Santa Ana PD!” one of the officers is heard yelling. “Stop!” the mother yells, though it is unclear from the footage whether she is referring to the police or to Jaden.
Jaden, holding a different kitchen knife in his right hand, comes into the view of the officers, as they remain just outside the door to the apartment, the footage shows. The officers yell, “Drop the knife!” repeatedly.
Read more Tastemakers of Orange County returns for its 10th year
The officers step back, and the apartment door briefly blocks the camera view of Jaden. When the officer steps forward again, still remaining just outside the apartment, Jaden isn’t in view. But a second later, he comes into view again, slowly walks toward them, stops, then walks away, again moving out of view.
“I’m going to get f—— shot by them right now,” he is heard saying, as his mom replies, “Jaden, deja el cuchillo (drop the knife).”
“Hey, hey brother, we’re here to help,” one of the officers is heard telling Jaden.
“I want to get shot,” Jaden can be heard saying, while still out of view of the body-worn cameras.
Moments later, Jaden comes back into the view of the body-worn cameras, still appearing to hold the knife. A volley of gunshots is immediately heard. Santa Ana police officials confirmed that both officers opened fire.
During a news conference several weeks ago, Jaden’s mother said he had been diagnosed as bipolar and had struggled with his mental health for several years, resulting in at least 10 calls to 911 that resulted in officers and mental health workers responding to de-escalate the situation. The mother, at the news conference, said the night officers shot her son she had called 911 seeking help from a psychiatric team.
But police say the 911 call from the mother’s fiancé — which includes no mention of mental health or a psychiatric team — was the only one they received regarding Jaden the night of the police shooting.
Luis A. Carrillo, a civil rights attorney representing Jaden’s family, denied that the teen was a danger to the officers when they opened fire.
“Nothing justifies taking a human life, in my opinion,” Carrillo said. “Especially when that human life is not advancing on the police officers … These officers did not have a reverence for human life.”
Jaden’s death is being investigated by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, which is routine in fatal shootings involving police officers. There is also an internal affairs investigation being conducted by the Santa Ana Police Department to determine if the officers acted within policy and their training, as is also routine for officer-involved shootings.
Read more Scouting America drops diversity initiatives from event after pressure from the Pentagon