Footage indicates man killed in officer-involved shooting had gun, knife

Officers apparently believed Daemen Perea had a gun and a knife when he was killed in an officer-involved shooting with the Rio Rancho Police Department early this year.

Police responded to a noise complaint at the Arrowhead Ridge Apartments, 4415 Arrowhead Ridge Drive, around 12:30 a.m. Jan. 31, which escalated to the shooting.

Nearly six months after a records request was filed with the New Mexico Public Safety Department regarding the incident, a slew of documents were released to the Observer late Tuesday.

In a darkened video, officers repeatedly yell for Parea, age 23, to drop the gun, with one voice clearly shouting, “Do not point it toward me … Daemen, please drop the gun!”

Another voice, apparently that of Perea, shouts for the officers to leave: “Get the f— out of here! Get out of here!”

Calls for Perea to drop the gun continue, and a few seconds later, approximately 10 shots are fired.

After the shots are fired, officers continue to yell for Perea to drop the gun, don’t move and to drop the knife.

“We’re trying to help you. Please, drop what’s in your hand,” an officer yells. “Daemen, drop the knife. Please drop the knife so we can help you.”

According to a medical examiner’s report, Perea was hit with “projectiles” in the right shoulder and right iliac, which is an artery that carries blood to the lower extremities, branching off the bottom of the aorta, according to the Cleveland Clinic website.

Lapel footage shows officers working to revive Perea. “I need you to stay with me, Daemen, K? Stay with me. Come on,” one officer says, indicating to other emergency personnel that Parea had an entry wound on his neck with an exit wound on his back and that he was in and out of consciousness with a little bit of a pulse on his back. “Stay with me, buddy, just stay with me,” an officer says while trying to stop the blood.

Despite those efforts, Parea was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two officers involved in a shooting, a male and a female, were asked a standard series of questions by other officers on the scene. The female officer stated that multiple shots were fired but there was no fire from the suspect.

The male officer gave a bit more information. “As soon as we got here, I heard pounding … As soon as we got to this silver car, he came out with a gun,” he said.

“We shot from that car,” he said, pointing toward activity in the background of the video when asked what evidence needed preserving. “His knife that he was wielding in his left hand. I grabbed that. The gun was in his right hand.”

He also stated that his camera was not on for the whole encounter as the situation quickly escalated. “He came out with a gun so fast, I was just focused on him and screaming at him. It wasn’t on until after I got the gauze and stuff on him.”

The officers involved have not been named, and releases the day of the incident said they were placed on administrative leave that’s standard in critical incidents. Both officers are back on duty following the standard paid administrative leave, according to Lt. Jacquelynn Reedy of the RRPD. Inquiries into whether the shooting was deemed justified have not been answered.

According to a 911 call a neighbor made, it was not Parea’s first encounter with the police in recent days. She called in to report that a man downstairs was banging on stuff.

“He’s constantly hitting something … It’s making quite a bit of noise,” she said. She also reported loud music. She asked the dispatcher to have someone come out and “tell him to knock it off.”

She went on to tell the dispatcher that the man had just moved in three or four days ago, “and we’ve just had issues nonstop.”

When asked if she thought the man was under the influence, she talked about an incident a couple of nights prior where the police were called out to another report. “He was really belligerent with them, screaming and yelling at them and telling them to get out of here and not to touch him. It’s horrible. It’s been like this since he moved in.”

She also said after that prior incident, one of the officers told her that he was pretty certain Parea was high on something during that encounter.

Paera was found with a baggie with green leafy substances and air soft gun pellets, according to documents. He also had a card for the New Mexico Medical Cannabis Program.