SUNNYVALE, Calif. (KRON) – The family of a 19-year-old shot and killed by Sunnyvale police on March 23 is speaking out. On Friday, the department released bodycam video of the shooting, saying they were forced to kill the man who was armed with a knife.

Police say they tried to get 19-year-old Emmanuel Perez Becerra to drop the knife when they responded to the Plaza Del Rey mobile home park. But they say Becerra refused, and the shooting followed.

Becerra’s family says he was struggling with his mental health following the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Officers say they were called to the mobile home park for a report of a man walking around naked armed with a knife. Edited video released Friday (above) shows police approaching Becerra and repeatedly telling him to drop the knife.

Police say Becerra instead turned to an officer and began walking toward them while holding the knife. The officer then opened fire.

“The officer discharged his duty weapon twice, striking the suspect,” said Phan Ngo, chief of the Sunnyvale Department of Safety.

The police chief also revealed Becerra had called 911 on himself and was on the line when officers approached him. The dispatcher can be heard also trying to get him to put the knife down.

Becerra’s family told KRON4 that his death is a tremendous loss.

“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,” the family said in a statement to KRON4.

Sunnyvale’s police chief would not comment on the actions his officers took.

“This is an active investigation. Our department and the district attorney’s office, we’re still gathering all the facts, and I think it would be premature for me to give an opinion one way or the other until the investigation has concluded,” Ngo said.

The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on leave while an investigation is underway. Becerra’s family say they are planning a vigil for next week.

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