Isaias Cervantes: LASD body camera footage released showing shooting of man with autism

Isaias Cervantes shooting: LASD body camera footage released

Isaias Cervantes, who is deaf and autistic, was shot in his home on March 31 by a Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputy after his family called police following a disturbance at their home. Cervantes was unarmed during the incident.

LOS ANGELES - Officials provided an update and a protest was planned Thursday in downtown Los Angeles as the family of a young man wounded in a deputy-involved shooting reacts to the body camera footage of the incident that was just released.

The new body camera video released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shows the March 31 shooting of Isaias Cervantes by a deputy.

Attorney describes Isaias Cervantes shooting

New body camera video released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shows the March 31 shooting of Isaias Cervantes by a deputy. According to his attorney, he has been left paralyzed.

"They were calling for help and they wanted him to go to the hospital. In the video, you’ll see exactly how they attempted to murder Isaias. They went into the home knowing he suffered from autism, they went into the home knowing he suffered from anxiety, they went into the home knowing he had mental health issues. The entire call was because there was a mental health crisis and the mom corroborated that once the deputies got to the scene knowing that these officers went in there, guns blazing, and immediately escalated the situation which could have been easily de-escalated," Attorney Christian Contreras told FOX 11’s Laura Diaz.

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Cervantes, who is deaf and autistic, was shot in his home by the deputy after his family called police following a disturbance at their home. Cervantes was unarmed during the incident.

"My brother's not a criminal. We are not criminals. We were treated like criminals in our own house," his sister, Yadira Cervantes said during a press conference earlier this month.

Isaia Cervantes

The caller reported Cervantes was having a mental health crisis and was pushing other family members.

Disability advocates say this should be a learning opportunity for deputies on how to respond to people with autism and other disabilities.

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The 25-year-old is now being treated at a hospital and could be paralyzed for life, his attorney said.

The sheriff's department says a family member later told deputies Cervantes was upset about his father being hospitalized and had told them to call the police and "tell them to shoot me."

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department News Crime and Public Safety