Horrific moment cop shoots 75-year-old woman with dementia dead in the doorway of her home for refusing to drop carving knives - as family who mistook the gun for a Taser break down when they realize the weapon is real
- Amelia Baca, 75, of Las Cruces, was shot dead by an officer after she refused to put down two carving knives while inside her home on April 16
- Her daughter, who was inside the home, called 911 and reported the woman was trying to 'kill me'
- Baca, who has dementia, was reportedly 'stabbing the floor' and 'throwing hot water' during the 911-call
- Officers arrived on scene around 6.45pm and told Baca to 'drop the f**king knives' several times at her, but she did not
- Baca did not speak English but reportedly claimed family inside the home was trying to 'scare' her
- The officer fired two bullets at her and she crumpled to the ground and was pronounced dead at the scene
Amelia Baca, 75, of Las Cruces, was shot dead on April 16 by a nine-year veteran officer after her daughter called 911 and reported the woman was 'trying to kill me'
A police officer fatally shot a 75-year-old woman with dementia in the doorway of her New Mexico home for refusing to drop two giant carving knives after threatening to kill her daughter.
The horrifying moment was captured on the cop's body cam after Amelia Baca's daughter called 911 and reported the woman was 'trying to kill me'.
Amelia Baca, of Las Cruces, was shot dead on April 16 by a nine-year veteran officer after her daughter called 911 and reported the woman was 'trying to kill me.'
'I really need an officer, an ambulance, or someone because my mother's getting aggressive right now,' her daughter, Jennifer Enriquez, told a 911-operator.
'She's 75 and she has dementia. I'm hiding in a room because she is threatening to kill me...I have my little one here.'
The 'freaked out' Enriquez told police she didn't know where her mother obtained the weapon and wasn't sure if she 'took her medication this morning'.
'[She's] hitting the floor [with the knife], saying she's going to kill me,' she told police. She later reported the Baca had begun to 'throw hot water' and was 'scaring' her little girl, who can be heard crying in the backroom.
The older woman, who has dementia, can be seen carrying two knives at her side as the officer screamed 'drop the f**king knives' several times at her but the woman did not speak English
The police officer, a nine-year veteran, arrives at the scene in Las Cruces at about 6.45pm and asked Baca to step out of the home.
Two adult women exit the home, with one of them telling the officer to 'please be very careful with her.'
The 911-caller, child and husband reportedly escaped the home through a window, the Las Cruces Sun News reported.
Additional videos suggested that the two women who exited the home arrived after the 911-call was made.
Baca can be seen standing in the doorway with two large knives at her side on the officer's body camera footage.
'Set it down,' the officer instructed. 'Back up, drop the knives.'
Baca appears to tell the officer no several times and at one point she can be seen backing up and placing both knives in one hand and holding them over what appears to be a couch, out of frame.
Baca can be seen trying to wave the officer away (pictured) as she held both knives out of view but was shot when she stepped forward
The older woman begins to wave the officer backward with her free hand as he continues to tell her to 'drop the f**king knives.'
She takes two steps forward and the officer fires two shots. She is later seen folded over on the ground.
The two women scream simultaneously and the daughter begins to cry. The younger woman can be heard telling the woman in Spanish: 'Mama, it is not a real gun.' They initially thought the gun was a taser but later discovered that it wasn't.
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Baca was pronounced dead on the scene.
In a post-incident interview, obtained by the Las Cruces Sun News, her granddaughter Albitar Inoh revealed the old woman didn't know English and she had asked the officer not to shoot Baca.
'I told them plenty of times, 'don't shoot her, she's mentally ill,' she told detectives, according to the Las Cruces Sun News. 'There was no danger.
'I don't even know how many times I yelled at him: "Don't shoot her she's mentally ill.' The pair were pushed back by a second officer, who did not appear in the bodycam footage, the Las Cruces Sun News reported.
Two women (pictured) who arrived at house after the 911 call told officers 'don't shoot her she's mentally ill'
Inoh, who was not in the home when the 911-call was made, said she approached her grandmother when she arrived at the home and asked her what had happened.
She reportedly said the family inside the home was trying to 'scare' her.
Baca had refused to give Inoh the knives when asked.
Another video obtained by Daily Mail showed the family paying respects to Baca, who was covered with a sheet.
The police department also shared that the officer, who has yet to be named or charged with a crime, has more than 70 hours of crisis invention training and is currently working on the patrol desk.
American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico slammed the department for not having a crisis intervention team on the scene, stating: 'If this team had been deployed to de-escalate the situation, [Baca] may still be alive today and receiving the help she needed.'
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