‘Has my full attention.’ Idaho mayor responds after police shoot disabled teen
Five days after Pocatello Police officers shot a disabled 17-year-old, the mayor gave a public response to the incident.
After an outcry from the community and multiple requests for comment by EastIdahoNews.com regarding the shooting of Victor Perez on Saturday, Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad released a statement Thursday.
“The Pocatello community has experienced a tragic event, and we are all reeling from what happened, especially the Perez family. Please know this incident has my full attention. The City Council and I do not take what happened lightly,” Blad said in the statement.
Blad said that investigations are underway and cited this as a reason for the delay in communication from the mayor’s office.
“We are addressing this matter with the seriousness and thoroughness it deserves and with the appropriate respect for the gravity of the situation,” Blad said. “The criminal, external and internal investigations regarding the officer-involved shooting are underway, which is why we cannot answer questions out of concern of interfering with or compromising the investigation.”
According to Blad, the four officers involved were placed on an “immediate administrative leave,” and the city will release body camera footage in the coming weeks.
“We truly recognize the difficulty and pain of this situation. Everyone is looking for answers, including me and the City Council,” Blad said. “That is why it is important to let the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force and others complete their investigations.”
Blad said the investigation is ongoing and that the incident is “top of mind for me and the City Council.”
“Right now, our thoughts are with the Perez family, the neighborhood residents who witnessed the interaction, our entire community, and all members of the Pocatello Police Department,” Blad said. “It will take a very long time for all of us to find normalcy, but our hope is we can find a way to move forward and build a stronger community together.”
Pocatello police officers shot Perez, who has cerebral palsy, at least nine times Saturday evening on the 700 block of North Harrison Avenue. The call was about a domestic disturbance that had been reported to dispatch by a neighbor.
Video of the incident has been widely shared online.
One of Perez’s legs was amputated due to his injuries. As of Tuesday, he was in a coma, according to his aunt, Ana Vasquez. EastIdahoNews.com is waiting for further updates from the family, but a GoFundMe website that has been set up by relatives says doctors have “advised his family to prepare for the worst.”