Sanchez had to have been aware that they were police officers because they were in full uniform and drove marked vehicles to the home, Citty said.
In addition to Sanchez’s hearing disability, his father could not speak English, Citty said. The police department has reached out to the Oklahoma Association for the Deaf for suggestions on how to improve training for officers when dealing with deaf people in the future, Citty said.
ABC News affiliate KOCO in Oklahoma City obtained cellphone video from a neighbor of Sanchez who said the footage was taken moments after the shooting. The neighbor, Julio Rayos, told the station that he screamed at officers that Sanchez was deaf. Rayos said he believes Sanchez may have been confused by the encounter with police.
Rayos told The Oklahoman on Wednesday that in addition to being deaf, Sanchez was developmentally disabled and didn’t speak, communicating mainly through hand movements. Rayos said he believes Sanchez became frustrated by trying to communicate with the police.
“The guy does movements,” Rayos told the newspaper. “He don’t speak, he don’t hear, mainly it is hand movements. That’s how he communicates. I believe he was frustrated trying to tell them what was going on.”
Article Appeared @http://abcnews.go.com/US/police-shoot-kill-oklahoma-city-man-neighbors-shout/story?id=50002066