Sunnyvale police fatally shoots pant-less 19-year-old suspect holding a knife in a mobile home park
By: Authorities on Friday released body camera footage of an officer fatally shooting a knife-wielding teen at a Sunnyvale mobile home park on March 23.
The teen was identified as 19-year-old Emmanuel Perez Becerra, who called the police on himself at 5:30 p.m., saying that someone was walking around naked with a knife, according to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety. But he did not reveal that it was him on the phone.
Within minutes of the call, officers arrived at the mobile home park at 1225 Vienna Drive. When officers found Perez Becerra, he was wearing a jacket and no pants, said Phan Ngo, chief of the Sunnyvale public safety department. In one hand, Perez Becerra held a knife and in the other, a phone, Ngo said.
The body camera footage showed officers identifying themselves as police and telling Perez Becerra to drop the knife. Perez Becerra did not respond.
He is then seen in body camera footage walking toward an officer, identified by Ngo as Kevin Lemos. Lemos has been with the Sunnyvale police for about 3½ years. The officer walked backward as Perez Becerra walked toward him, holding the knife.
The footage recorded Lemos saying “Drop the knife,” “Stop” and “I’m going to shoot you if you don’t stop,” as Perez Becerra advanced toward him.
Then, Lemos shot Perez Becerra twice in the torso, from several feet away, the footage showed.
Officers began life-saving measures after the shooting and Perez Becerra was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he died.
The shooting is being investigated by the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. The officers who were at the scene during the shooting are on routine administrative leave, Ngo said.
“Emmanuel was truly a caring individual who was still healing from those pandemic impacts, and his opportunity to ‘return to normalcy’ with his loving and supportive family is now gone,” Perez Becerra’s family told KRON4. A GoFundMe created for Perez Becerra described him as a loving son and brother who was “known for his gentle nature and kind heart.”