Family: Man with knife did not understand police orders before they shot him
One week after he was shot by Raleigh police on I-440, activists say Daniel Turcios, a husband and father, was confused and disoriented at the time. They also assert he was shot multiple times while lying on the ground.
Posted — UpdatedTurcios and his family were involved in a traffic accident in the westbound lanes of I-440, near New Bern Avenue, around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 11.
Their car flipped multiple times, rendering Turcios unconscious, and a witness who pulled him out of the car thought he was dead, Kerwin Pittman, a social justice activist with watchdog group Emancipate NC, said in a news conference Tuesday.
Pittman added that Turcios spoke limited English. That, combined with being knocked unconscious in the crash, made it difficult for him to understand police officers' demands, Pittman asserted.
"He didn't even respond to his wife when she spoke to him," Pittman said.
Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said officers received reports that Turcios was intoxicated and had a knife in his hand. She did not say how many times officers fired on Turcios, but on Tuesday Emancipate NC said a medical report provided to the family "clearly indicates that Daniel was shot multiple times."
Patterson also said witnesses saw Turcios walking with a small child and holding the knife.
Video captured at the scene appears to show Turcios carrying something in his hand that could be a knife and his family said in Tuesday's press conference that he carried a small pocket knife but didn't have it out when police confronted him.
An attorney with Emancipate NC said witnesses have no reason to believe he had been drinking.
The chief said officers told Turcios to drop the weapon multiple times and that he swung at officers as they tried to take him into custody. A Taser was used to try to diffuse the situation before a shot was fired, she said.
Video shared with WRAL News shows Turcios shocked with the Taser, falling down and getting back up.
On Tuesday, Pittman said a video from the shooting and a witness account leads family members and activist to believe that Turcios was shot multiple times even when he was on the ground, no longer a threat. They were also concerned that no one rendered first aid to Turcios after he was shot.
In the video, which was played during the news conference, the witness can be heard saying, "One time was enough. He wasn't a threat after that."
"It is terrible," said the witness, who was not named.
Given the site and time of Turcios' shooting — along a busy interstate in the middle of the afternoon — investigators are expected to have access to multiple videos and photos captured by those stuck in traffic who witnessed the incident.
"If this was a preventable death we want someone to be held accountable," added Dawn Blagrove, an attorney and executive director of Emancipate NC.
Rosa Jerez, Turcios' wife, spoke briefly through tears at the end of the press conference. A translator said she pleaded for "justice for my husband," saying, "He didn't do anything to them ... I told them to leave him alone, he's not doing anything to you ... they didn't listen."
According to the translator, Jerez also said, "My husband was not understanding [officers' demands] ... my children were asking them to not kill him. He was killed like a dog ... they didn't care about him."
The family has three children, ages 20, 11 and seven. It is not clear how many were in the car or how many witnessed the shooting.
The Raleigh Police Department, which has not confirmed that multiple shots were fired, will release a five-day report on Wednesday, which will provide more information about what happened.
Patterson has petitioned the court to allow her agency to release body camera video and dash camera video from this incident. There is a hearing on Feb. 2 in North Carolina's Superior Court.
By state law, police departments have to petition a judge for release of the body camera footage worn by their officers.
The officer who shot Turcios has been placed on administrative leave, which is protocol for a shooting involving an officer. Patterson said the name of the officer could not be released at this time.
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