Newly released police bodycam video shows the moments before officers fatally shot a 20-year-old autistic man who ran toward them with a knife during an apparent mental health crisis.
The Irvine Police Department released the footage Friday from the July 21 encounter, which began after Daniel Meltvedt called 911 and told dispatchers he had recently stopped taking an anti-psychotic medication and wanted to end his life.
When officers arrived, Meltvedt was seen near the entrance to a closed-off trail in a residential neighborhood, while multiple officers remained positioned at a distance.
In the video, Meltvedt is holding a kitchen knife and repeatedly tells officers he wants them to shoot and kill him. The footage captures tense exchanges as members of the department’s Crisis Negotiation Team try to convince him to put the weapon down.
“I’m not afraid of any of you to die,” Meltvedt can be heard telling officers. “If I die, I die, guess what.”
One officer tells him the remark frightened him and asks why he called police. Meltvedt replies that he was concerned for his own safety.
“I was ready to die,” he says in the footage.
The negotiator continues urging Meltvedt to drop the knife so officers can help him, but at one point Meltvedt indicates he may intend to hurt the officers.
The moment became more tense when some officers pull out tasers, which Meltvedt appears to perceives to be a threat. At that point, he is heard pleading for officers to “take the shot.”
“I can’t wait for you to kill me today,” he says. “I’d rather you shoot me because, if not, all your employees are getting killed.”
The footage also showed an officer asking the young man’s father father, Erich Meltvedt, how to calm his son down. The father was present at the hour-plus standoff but was reportedly kept away from talking to his son to prevent further escalation. He advised them to “tell him exactly what to do.”
Around 1 p.m., the officers appear frustrated and began making more forceful comments Meltvedt.
“I’m tired of playing with you. I’m tired of screwing around,” one officer says. “I’ve told you several times, quit playing with my officers. Put the knife down now!”
After more shouting by law enforcement, Meltvedt asks, “Are those guns?” before running toward officers with knife in his hand. As he nears a line of officers, eight gunshots can be heard ringing out.
Paramedics later rendered medical aid, but he was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the incident. The probe could take up to a year, police have said.
The release of the footage comes after the father and other family members criticized police for what he claimed was an over-aggresive response. Erich Meltvedt said that his son, who worked as a clerk at a grocery store, was sent home from a rough day on the job that day.
“I thought they’d come to help him, but they killed him instead,” the father told the Los Angeles Times last month. Police “had seven guys there and you’re telling me they can’t take down one guy with a 5-inch blade.”
Erich recently told the Orange County Register he hasn’t been able to get himself to watch the newly released bodycam footage.
