The disturbing last words of a transgender man have been revealed after he was shot dead by police as he allegedly advanced towards them with a box cutter.
Santa Fe police officers told Grace Coon, 33, that they were going to help him seconds before shooting him to death.
“I believe you,” Coons said as he stepped forward and was killed by police after his wife called 911 to report he was having a mental health crisis and was armed with a box cutter.
The shooting unfolded one minute after police arrived at the home on Sept. 22, according to the police. Santa Fe New Mexico.
The body camera footage begins with officers David Gallegos and Charles Ovalle at the front door with guns drawn, yelling, “Santa Fe Police, get out of the house now.”
Coon is then seen coming out of the front door with both hands raised and each hand holding an object.
After Coon claims they have nothing on them, an officer responds, “You have a cutter, leave it.”
The officers then return to the yard as they continue to instruct Coons to “drop the gun.”
“I don’t have anything,” Coon says. “I don’t want to live.”
Gracen Coon is seen moments before she was shot and killed by police at her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Coons, left, identified as a man, according to his attorney, who has notices of intent to file a legal case after the police shooting in September.
The officers then tell Coon they will help him.
“I believe you,” Coon responds as he steps forward.
That’s when one of the agents, apparently Gallegos, fires three shots, causing Coon to collapse.
After the shooting, Coon’s wife, Lilly Gordon, opens the front door and asks police, “What just happened?”
The officers order him to go back inside and wait there.
Some time later, Coon’s wife is seen crying during a police interrogation in the couple’s garage.
Coon’s attorney, Brian Egolf, has filed legal notices with Santa Fe and the county dispatch center.
Police documents refer to Coons as Stephanie and note that they identified themselves as a man but had not legally changed their name or gender.
Coon’s wife claims she called authorities for a welfare check and insisted on the call that he was not dangerous. Coons, left, is pictured above with an unidentified person.
New Mexico State Police told the Santa Fe New Mexican that they intend to send the case to the District Attorney’s Office next week.
Coon’s attorney refers to him as a man, although a friend stated they preferred gender-neutral pronouns.
Egolf says Coon’s wife called authorities for a welfare check and insisted on the call that he was not dangerous.
“Upon SFPD arrival, no de-escalation tactics were employed toward Mr. Coon before an SFPD officer fired his service weapon at Mr. Coon, killing him,” the notice states.
‘EM. Gordon was ordered to stay inside her home and watched Mr. Coon, her husband, die before her.
Santa Fe police, for their part, have said Coon was violent and armed with a box cutter. They also claim Coon “was threatening to kill the victim at the residence.”
Gallegos reportedly claimed to a commanding officer after the shooting that Coon was armed with “a box cutter and a gun.”
Ovalle, for his part, said that Coon ‘had a knife in his hand, and then I discovered that he also had a gun.’
New Mexico State Police told the Santa Fe New Mexican that they intend to send the case to the District Attorney’s Office next week.
Santa Fe police, for their part, said an internal investigation would be launched after the state investigation “to determine compliance with department policies and procedures.”