Cops in Salt lake City shot a Utah man 20 times in the back after he allegedly committed a robbery. According to Deseret News, the fatal incident took place on May 23 when officers were called to a report of an individual making “threats with a weapon,” per Salt Lake Police. Capt. Richard Lewis. As the officers arrived, the suspect — later identified as 22-year-old Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal — began to run, with one officer being heard saying over the radio, “He’s got a gun in his pocket. He’s reaching in his right (inaudible).”
Lewis stated that the officers then chased Palacios and reportedly yelled 17 times for him to “stop,” “show me your hands,” or “drop it.” Palacios fell at one point, prompting an officer to yell, “Tase him, tase him, tase him!” As he got up, gunshots began to ring out, and he fell to the ground again, while officers screamed for him to “show your hands!” Bodycam footage of the incident was made public, which Palacios’s family says supports their claims that the shooting was not necessary. “They were asking him to put his hands up when he was already on the ground,” his sister Karina Palacios stated, with his brother Freddie Palacios adding, “When he was already being shot on the ground. And how are you going to ask someone who has been shot that many times to put your [hands up].”
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“We want to get justice for him because he could still be alive. He could still be here. What they did, it wasn’t right. After watching the videos, it wasn’t right,” Karina also stated. “He was running the whole time. He was never confrontational. They could have tased him. They could have easily tased him,” Freddie offered. The family is demanding that the officers involved be held accountable for their actions. “We want them behind bars for what they did,” said Josh Palacios, a cousin of Palacios.
Police Chief Mike Brown issued a statement asking the residents of Salt Lake City “to remain calm” while an independent review of the shooting is done. “We hear you. We want to discuss this. But I’m asking for the city to remain calm,” he said. Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall also issued a statement, stating that, while due process for both the officers and Palacios’ family prohibits her from sharing her personal opinion, “As a sister and a mother, what I saw in this video is genuinely disturbing and upsetting.”
