LANCASTER, Pa. — For the first time since Ricardo Munoz was shot and killed, we are hearing from his family.
I spoke to Munoz's mother and step-father, who say this didn’t need to end this way.
Grief has befallen Munoz’s family, after he was shot and killed by police, Sunday afternoon.
His parents say the 27-year-old suffered from schizophrenia and, unfortunately, was not taking his medication.
At the same time, they don’t believe he would have hurt the police officer, despite having a knife.
"I called the police and I was thinking that they would bring my son to the hospital yesterday, not kill him," Miguelina Pina, Munoz's mother, said.
"That’s what we are waiting for," Munoz's stepfather, Victor Fernandez, added.
Before calling 911 on Sunday, Fernandez and Pina say the family’s first call was to Crisis Intervention, trying to deescalate the situation.
Crisis Intervention, however, told them to call police for help.
The 27-year-old had suffered issues stemming from mental disability for at least 10 years, before he was diagnosed with schizophrenia about three years ago.
His family says he would have significant mood swings and sometimes become agitated.
While they were trying to get him help, finding that help through the system was very difficult.
The grieving family says they feel very let down by the entire system.
"There is no help here. There is nothing here," Fernandez said. "I can’t even imagine that this city doesn’t have a psychiatric here. If you get crazy, you die yourself."
Lancaster Mayor Danene Sorace, along with community leaders, is expressing the same concern.
During a news conference, Monday, city leaders called for more help from the governor and state legislature to fund mental health services.
The city police force does have a social worker on staff, and another one in the hiring phase. However, that social worker was not at the call that lead to Munoz’s death.
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