Overview
- Police say officers responded to a family disturbance on June 14 and encountered 15-year-old Jaden D. Michaca armed with a knife after a caller reported he had been stabbed; the teen was shot and pronounced dead at the scene.
- The family filed a legal claim on June 23 accusing the city of negligent training and failing to de-escalate, and the claim alleges the teen was shot seven or eight times without warning.
- The teen's mother says he was having a mental health crisis, that she requested a Psychiatric Emergency Response Team, and that officers forced entry, ignored pleas to use a stun gun, and that she was struck by gunfire.
- Santa Ana police say the responding officers were not told the call was for mental health services, that they ordered the teen to drop the knife before firing, and that the department’s Homicide Unit, Internal Affairs and the Orange County District Attorney are all conducting reviews.
- The family’s claim is a procedural step that can lead to a lawsuit and the pending reviews and body-worn camera footage will determine whether criminal charges, departmental discipline, or policy changes follow and could affect how mental-health crises are handled by first responders.