Body Cam Footage Shows Officer Shooting 75 Year Old with Dementia Dead
Next Gen News Team
3 min read
New body camera video from the Las Cruces Police Department has been released in connection to an officer-involved shooting in April that resulted in the death of 75-year-old Amelia Baca.
The body cam video released is from the officer who responded to the scene and shot the woman. In the video, you can see the officer entering the property through the front entrance. He reaches for the front door and tells the daughter and granddaughter of Baca to step out of the house.
The daughter and grandaughter are then seen on the video exiting the house. In the video, you can hear the granddaughter tell the officer to “be very careful.” As soon as Baca’s daughter and grandaughter exit the house, the officer yells at Baca to “set it down” referring to the two knives Baca has in her hands.
The officer is heard yelling several times at Baca to set down the knives. As the officer continues to yell at Baca, the daughter and granddaughter who are on the front porch of the house are also heard screaming.
The officer tells Baca again to drop the knife. Baca is seen screaming back at the officer but it’s unclear what she is saying. In the video, it’s also heard the officer keeps telling the daughter and the granddaughter to stay back.
In the video, it shows Baca has two large knives one in each hand and she has the knives pointed down at the ground. The officer yells at Baca several times to “drop the *expletive* knife, drop the knife now!”
Video shows Baca putting both knives into one hand while the officer continues to yell at Baca to put the knives down. Baca is then seen on video taking a step forward and that is when the officer shoots two rounds striking Baca.
In the video, you can hear the women screaming after hearing the shots fired. Lifesaving measures were initiated, however, Baca died on the scene, according to a prior news release from police. The officer who fired the shots then tells another officer to pull her body out for him to check the inside of the house.
The officer then searches the house along with another officer and found a child who was hiding in a bedroom. The incident happened on April 16. Another daughter of Baca initially called 9-1-1 and told dispatch that her mother had dementia.
Baca did not speak or understand English, according to Baca’s granddaughter. The officer who shot Baca has been placed on administrative leave which is standard for such incidents, according to police. Another officer who responded to the scene right before the shooting told investigators that the officer who shot and killed Baca was armed with his “duty-issued handgun” and nothing else.
The officer told investigators the initial call was for “behavioral issues.”
The officer said at first it was “told that a female was, a female was having an episode she was diagnosed with, I don’t recall exactly what she was diagnosed with, and then shortly after that dispatch stated that a female, that there was screaming in the background and that a female said another female was threatening her with a knife and was currently stabbing the floor threatening to kill the reported party.”
Everyone should be glad she wasn’t black.
why
No surprise here; just another example of the NWO law enforcement goons following orders to eliminate as many sheeple as they can! Really, this old, decrepit lady was of no imminent threat to this officer! Where was his mace or rubber bullets in a call such as this; there was no excuse for him/her not to be prepared and properly armed to dispatch of this incident! WTFU!
Disagree. The woman, 75, was NOT ‘OLD”. Decrepit is NOT a word I’d use either….impaired and out of control~ yes. Certainly, our law ‘enforcement’ officers are definitely “NOT” :GOONS, either. As reported~ the weapons in her hands were LETHAL devices. The family members knew she was presenting a PROBLEM….to herself and others! Put yourself in that situation. Would mace, rubber bullets and/or a tazer suffice for your own personal defense ? Or protection of others?
Yes they probably would suffice. As a person who has worked with demented patients, redirection is the key, not lethal force. We all know that the more you force, the harder they get to deal with. The more you redirect their attention and focus, the easier they are to control. The officers were not trained for this, that is not their fault. The system failed by not sending a person trained in dementia care to the scene to advise and inform. There are many ways this situation could have been defused. Sad for everybody involved.
no imminent threat. the police were called by a family member to handle a female with a knife in each hand.
the police are not psychologists!
this woman should have been in a memory care facility where she could not hurt herself or anyone else.
The average cop is not exactly the most intelligent or caring individual in our contemporary society, they are mostly cut from the same cloth, they start out
as young gung ho guys who are fascinated by uniforms and guns, and the aura of
machismo and authority that comes with the job description.
I am no longer surprised by ”incidents” like these, where totally innocent people are gunned down in cold blood by idiots in uniform who most likely in their imagination see themselves as a heroic ”Dirty Harry” character!
The officers were not trained for this, that is not their fault. The system failed by not sending a person trained in dementia care to the scene to advise and inform. We who work with demented patients all know that the more you force, the harder they get to deal with. The more you redirect their attention and focus, the easier they are to control. The health system fails to because it is so expensive to get these victims into a proper care setting. And I am glad for police and their willingness to put their lives on the line to protect me. Thank you good cops!!!
The family should never have called the police if they did not want the reaction they received. The police react to anyone with a weapon.
The cop was probably responding to a violence call.
Finding panicked ladies there didn’t ease his fears.
Would any sane person walk up and gently take away the knives???
If the family would of called 911 and ask for an ambulance to there resident and told the operator that there mother had dementia and was out of her mind; then maybe things would of come out different. calling the police is ok, but explain the situtation a little better than what they did.