A 75-year-old dementia patient was fatally shot in the doorway of her New Mexico house by a cop after she refused to drop two massive carving knives after threatening to harm her daughter.
The terrifying scene was filmed on the cop’s body camera after Amelia Baca’s daughter contacted 911 and said the lady was attempting to kill her. Amelia Baca, of Las Cruces, was shot dead by a nine-year veteran cop on April 16 after her daughter called 911 and stated the lady was attempting to kill her.
🤬🤬🤬🤬 My God. This would NOT happen in 99% of the world. Let me tell you what you are seeing. That dear woman, is 75 year old Amelia Baca, a grandmother with DEMENTIA, who DOES NOT SPEAK ENGLISH. She was in the middle of a mental health crisis and police showed up, screaming, only in English, until he decided to shoot and kill her. Her family called for help. This is what they got instead. Nurses and doctors deal with these issues DAILY. Even with patients who arm themselves. This is in Las Cruces, New Mexico. In the ENTIRE world outside of the United States, people with mental illnesses, particularly our elders, are sent special teams to help disarm them and GET THEM TO THE HOSPITAL. Finally, a few cities across the country are starting to get these teams, but the United States is the Wild Wild West where people who need doctors and nurses instead get bullets and cops who act like ogres. ➡️ Let me speak plainly… The one issue that we should ALL agree on, Republicans and Democrats, young and old, people from all races, backgrounds, and zip codes, is that people with mental illnesses DO NOT need a one size fits all approach driven by loud cops with guns and bullets. The whole world has figured this out already. The whole world has mental illnesses and the whole world doesn’t shoot and kill people in crisis. You send in expert teams, who know how to disarm people, and then get them the healthcare they need. It’s not even new. It’s happening everywhere. Follow @GrassrootsLaw because we are fighting for this nationwide.
Posted by Shaun King on Thursday, 12 May 2022
Jennifer Enriquez, her daughter, told a 911 dispatcher that she definitely needs an officer, an ambulance, or someone because her mother is being hostile at present.
Her mom is 75 years old and has dementia. Jennifer is in a room hiding because she’s threatening to murder her. She has her child too with her. The ‘freaked out’ Enriquez told cops she didn’t know where her mother got the gun and wasn’t sure whether she’d taken her medicine this morning.
She informed the cop that her mom is striking the floor with the knife, threatening to murder her. She subsequently said that Baca had begun to ‘throw hot water’ at her daughter, who could be heard weeping in the backroom.
The cop, a nine-year veteran, arrived at the scene in Las Cruces at 6.45 p.m. and requested Baca to go outside. Two adult females depart the house, one of them tells the officer, “Please be very cautious with her.” The 911 caller, kid, and husband fled via a window.
According to further camera evidence, the two ladies who fled the house arrived after the 911 call was placed. On the officer’s body camera footage, Baca can be seen standing in the doorway with two huge knives at her side. The officer educated her to set that down and back up, and put the knives down.
Baca seems to tell the officer no many times, and at one point, she is seen backing up and holding two knives in one hand over what looks to be a couch, out of view. As he proceeds to demand her to ‘drop the knives,’ the elderly woman begins to gesture the officer backward with her free hand.
The cop fires two rounds as she takes two steps forward. Subsequently, she is seen curled over on the ground.
The two mothers scream at the same time, and the girl begins to weep. ‘Mama, it’s not a real gun,’ the younger lady can be heard saying in Spanish to the woman. They originally mistook the pistol for a taser but learned it wasn’t. Baca was declared deceased at the spot.
Her granddaughter Albitar Inoh said in a post-incident that the elderly lady didn’t speak English and had implored the official not to shoot Baca. She told the cop multiple times not to shoot her, she’s mentally sick. There was no threat. The couple were moved back by a second officer who did not appear in the bodycam tape.
Inoh, who was not at home at the time of the 911 call, claimed she approached her grandma when she reached and asked her what had occurred.
She allegedly stated that the family within the house was attempting to ‘scare’ her. When requested, Baca refused to give Inoh the knife.
A second video showed the family paying their respects to Baca, who was draped in a sheet.
The cop, who has yet to be identified or charged with a crime, has more than 70 hours of crisis intervention training and is presently working on the patrol desk, according to the police department.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico chastised the department for failing to dispatch a crisis intervention team, claiming that ‘if this team had been sent to de-escalate the scenario, Baca would still be alive today and getting the treatment she required.
