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Police shoot, kill deaf man as neighbors yell 'he can't hear you'

Posted at 10:14 AM, Sep 21, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-21 10:14:56-04

(KFOR)  An Oklahoma City police sergeant is on paid administrative leave after he shot and killed a deaf man Tuesday night.

Police were at the home to investigate a hit-and-run accident.

When police arrived, 35-year-old Magdiel Sanchez was on the front porch holding a two-foot pipe.

They said he advanced on the two officers there and did not respond to commands to drop the weapon.

Several neighbors said they witnessed the whole thing and were yelling at the police not to shoot because Sanchez is deaf and did not understand their commands.

"Myself and my daughter were actually screaming at him not, you know, that he was deaf, that he couldn't hear anything. And, they proceeded on shooting him," said Julio Rayos, who lives just down the street.

Rayos said Sanchez had never been aggressive toward anyone and he believes the officers misunderstood his actions.

"The guy does movements. He don't speak. He don't hear. So, mainly, it's hand movements that he does. That's how we communicated with him. And, he was actually I believe he was trying to, he was frustrated trying to tell them what was going on," Rayos said. 

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