Family of knife-wielding teen in crisis shot dead by Sunnyvale police file civil rights lawsuit
The family of a teenager having a mental health crisis who called 911 in Sunnyvale last year and who was shot dead after walking toward an officer while holding a knife has launched a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city.
The shooting happened March 24, 2024 at the Plaza Del Rey mobile home park near Tasman Drive and Lawrence Expressway. The Sunnyvale Department of Safety said its officers responded to a report of a partially-naked man walking around brandishing a knife on Vienna Drive.
DPS said dispatchers realized 19-year-old Emmanuel Perez Becerra called 911 on himself and was on the line. The dispatchers tried to de-escalate the situation as officers were responding, DPS said.
The department released DPS dashboard camera video of the incident showing an officer in a patrol car and another officer on foot following Becerra and giving multiple commands to drop the knife. The officer on foot is seen backing away as Becerra walks toward him wielding the knife, and the officer is heard saying, "I'm gonna shoot you ... if you don't stop stop right there."
The officer fired twice from about 20 feet away as Becerra continued advancing. Becerra, who did not have a criminal record, was pronounced dead at a hospital.
On Tuesday, the Becerra family attorneys announced a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Sunnyvale DPS for the fatal shooting. The complaint says Becerra never threatened anyone, or any of the responding officers, with the knife and never charged at anyone.
"The officer had a Taser. He had pepper spray. He had a baton," said attorney Adanté Pointer in a prepared statement. "He never attempted to deescalate the situation, or to use non-lethal force, or to use any other method that might have avoided this needless loss of a young man's life."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose by Becerra's parents, names the City of Sunnyvale, Public Safety Officer Kevin Lemos, and others for wrongful death, excessive force, negligence, battery, and loss of familial association.
"Emmanuel had his whole life ahead of him. What happened to Emmanuel underscores why law enforcement should never respond to an individual in a mental health crisis by provoking and escalating the situation, and then immediately using deadly force as a first resort," said attorney Michael Slater in a prepared statement. "Instead of receiving the help he was literally calling out for, Emmanuel was met with lethal violence by those from whom he was asking for help and protection."
The two officers involved in the shooting were placed on routine leave. The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office was investigating the shooting.
Sunnyvale DPS told CBS News Bay Area Wednesday the city had not yet received any notification of a lawsuit being filed and the department would typically not comment on any pending litigation.
