Editor’s Note: Suicide is always preventable. If you are having thoughts of suicide or feeling suicidal, please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline immediately at 988. Counselors are also available to chat at www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org. Remember: You deserve to be supported, and it is never too late to seek help. Speak with someone today.
By Joanna Putman
Police1
FRESNO, Calif. — The Fresno Police Department has released body camera footage from an officer-involved shooting of a suicidal man armed with scissors, a news release states.
Officers with the department responded to a 911 call on Nov. 4, 2023, from a woman who stated that her husband, now identified as Maximiliano Sosa, 33, had threatened to take his own life, according to the release.
When officers arrived at Sosa’s apartment, he had already left. They encountered him in the parking lot 15 minutes later, according to the report. Body camera footage shows Sosa’s vehicle drive toward an officer at high speed before speeding away.
“Do you want to play a game?” Sosa can be heard yelling.
Click below to watch the full body camera video.
While the officers were speaking to the 911 caller in her apartment, Sosa called her on the phone. Video shows officers talking with Sosa, attempting to dissuade him from taking his life.
“Max, we just want to help you,” an officer can be heard saying to Sosa. Sosa does not appear to calm down and continues to yell at officers over the phone.
After hanging up the phone, Sosa returned to the apartment, armed with a pair of kitchen shears. He began to challenge the officers, stating he would stab them and force them to shoot him, according to the release.
Officers again tried to de-escalate, but Sosa remained hostile. The video then shows Sosa running toward the officers standing outside the apartment. An officer deployed his TASER at Sosa, who did not appear to be affected by the shock. When Sosa began to charge the officers with shears raised, three officers shot at him, according to the release.
Officers immediately began to administer medical aid to Sosa but were unable to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.