Police Officer Kills Raymondville Man: Excessive Force?

This article was published 2 years 11 months 21 days ago which may make its actuality or accuracy no longer valid. Foxrio2.com is not responsible for any misunderstanding.

Some residents in Raymondville want to know why a police officer chose to shoot a man after the victim charged at him with a knife and fire axe. A man from Raymondville is dead today after an officer shot him for trying to attack first responders when he refused to leave his home that was engulfed in flames at the time.
Uvaldo Zamora, Chief of police: “He actually charged at the officer with a knife. The officer went back and tripped over a fire hose. At that time Mr. Cortez ran to the fire truck and picked up and ax and charged at the officer again”
Police chief Uvaldo Zamora says the officer, identified as Mathew Betancourt was forced to fire once and hit Cortez in the upper torso. Several neighbors approached Fox 2 news and they believe the police officer used excessive force.
Maria de los Santos, neighbor of the area: “I think the police officer got confused with his ear phones, because I would always pass by here every day and he had his ear phones on dancing”
Chief Zamora: “The officer was trying to avoid any confrontation between Mr. Castro and any member of the Raymondville fire department and himself”
Sophia Martinez, also a neighbor, believes the situation would not have gotten out of control and Cortez would have been more cooperative if the fire hydrant in front of the house worked.
“So they had to use a different hydrant? A different hydrant. The one on 3rd street which is 2 blocks away from here having one in front of the house, but what good does it do if it’s not working”
Authorities will look into Cortez