Rafael Olivas, 23-years-old, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was gunned down by police officers after an altercation with his girlfriend.
Rafael’s mother Alma Chavez called 911 for help during the fight.
When police arrived, Rafael was holding a knife in his left hand, after refusing to put the knife down, officers killed him.
As Reported By The Daily Mail:
A mother was left heartbroken when she called for police to help her to deal with her distraught son, and officers gunned him down as she watched.
Alma Chavez, from Las Vegas, Nevada, called for a police to help her calm her 23-year-old son, Rafael Olivas, after he had an argument with his girlfriend.
Instead, his mother looked on helplessly as officers cut the young man down in a hail of bullets when they saw he was carrying a knife.
A tearful Ms Chavez told the Las Vegas Review Journal: ‘They just kill him like as if he were a dog, with no warning, no advice, no nothing. They didn’t even try to talk to him.’
The single mother now says she regrets calling for police, and she has vowed to fight for justice for her son who she believes was wrongfully killed.
But according to police Mr Olivas ignored repeated warnings to drop the knife he was carrying and began to approach officers.
They say they fired four beanbag shotgun rounds at him and it was only when he continued to walk towards them that he was shot dead by two officers.
Ms Chavez’s account of the shooting contradicts key details released by the police. She also disputed a relative’s claims her son had wanted to end his life.
According to police, Mr Olivas was ‘waving’ a knife as he walked towards officers. His mother remembers her son walking towards them with his hands by his sides.
She said the knife, which was in his left hand, was never brandished in a threatening way. She also said police never told her son to drop the weapon.
Mr Olivas was shot dead at 6:46am, according to the police. Ms Chavez said that morning her son had been rowing with his girlfriend in the family home.
His girlfriend threatened to leave, and Mr Olivas told her that if she left she should take all her things with her.
Ms Chavez said she had tried to calm her son, who suffered with a ulcerative colitis – a bowel disorder – which was aggravated by stress.
SOURCE: The Daily Mail
Rafael Olivas, 23-years-old, of Las Vegas, Nevada was gunned down by police officers for having a knife.
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Alma Chavez kneels by tributes to her son, Rafael Olivas, who was shot dead by Las Vegas Police.
