A transgender man’s haunting final words have been revealed after he was shot dead by cops as he allegedly advanced towards them with a box cutter.
Santa Fe cops told Grace Coon, 33, that they were going to help him just seconds before shooting him dead.
‘I believe you,’ Coons said right before he was killed by police after his his wife Lilly Gordon called 911 to report he was having a mental health crisis and armed with a boxcutter.
The shooting unfolded within a minute of police arriving at the home on September 22, as reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican.
The bodycam footage begins with officers David Gallegos and Charles Ovalle at the front door with guns drawn, yelling: ‘Santa Fe police – step out of the house now.’
Coon is then seen emerging from the front door with both hands up, and each hand holding an object.
After Coon claims they have nothing on them, one officer replies: ‘You have a box cutter – drop it.’
The cops then back into the yard as the continue to instruct Coons to ‘drop the weapon.’
‘I’ve got nothing,’ Coon says. ‘I don’t want to live.’
The officers then tell Coon they’re going to help him out.
‘I believe you,’ Coon replies as he takes a step forward.
That’s when one of the officers – apparently Gallegos – fires three shots, causing Coon to collapse.
After the shooting Coon’s wife opens the front door and asks police, ‘what just happened?’
The officers order her to go back inside and wait there.
Some time later Coon’s wife is seen crying during a police interview in the couple’s garage.
Coon’s attorney Brian Egolf has filed has submitted legal notices to Santa Fe and the county dispatch center.
Police documents refer to Coons as Stephanie, noting they identified as a male but had not legally changed his name and gender.
Coon’s lawyer is referring to him as a male, though a friend claimed they preferred gender-neutral pronouns.
Egolf says that Coon’s wife called authorities for a welfare check and insisted on the call that he was not dangerous.
‘Upon the SFPD’s arrival there were no de-escalation tactics employed towards Mr. Coon before an SFPD officer fired his service weapon at Mr. Coon, killing him,” the notice says
‘Ms. Gordon was ordered to stay inside her house and watched Mr. Coon, her husband, die before her.’
Santa Fe police, on their part, have said Coon was reported to be violent and armed with a box cutter. They also claim Coon ‘was making threats to kill the victim in the residence.’
Gallegos reportedly claimed to a commanding officer after the shooting that Coon was armed with ‘a box cutter and a gun.’
Ovalle, meanwhile, said Coon ‘had a knife in his hand, and I found out after that he also had a gun.’
New Mexico state police told the Santa Fe New Mexican that they intend to send the case to the District Attorney’s Office next week.
Santa Fe police, on its part, said an internal investigation would begin after the state probe ‘to determine compliance with department policies and procedures.’