Marcelo Garcia
In April 2021, officers of the Houston, Texas Police Department shot and killed 46-year-old Marcelo Garcia, who suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, during another mental health crisis. On that day, the woman called the police for help, as her husband began to behave differently than usual.
The assistant officer who arrived at the scene asked the department for help in the form of specialists for work with mentally ill people, but he was denied this, since all the employees were busy. According to the police, he met Garcia near the front door of his house. The man allegedly held a knife in his hands, and after he refused to put it on the ground on the order of the officer and began to move towards the police officer, the police officer tried to use a taser against Garcia. According to the police report, the use of a taser by a police officer against a man did not give the desired result, and the police officer was forced to use his service weapon. The officer shot Garcia several times, fatally wounding him.
He is survived by his wife and four children, who in April 2021 announced that they intended to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and the police department, accusing them of using excessive force.