Marlon Joel Rodas-Sanchez

How they died

Deadly force

Salinas Police Department officers responded to a report of a suspicious person with a knife. Officers found a teenager sharpening a butcher knife on a sidewalk outside a house. The teen lived in the neighborhood. He refused to drop the butcher knife, and began banging it against a shed behind the house. Police called in the Salinas Fire Department to use a fire hose as a tactic to subdue the "irrational" boy. Three officers deployed Tasers and non-lethal rounds. The fire hose, Tasers, and non-lethal rounds were all ineffective in disarming the boy.When the boy walked inside a house, officers decided to follow him because they were concerned that the teen may make people inside hostages. Once inside the house, the boy turned toward the officers; he was still wielding his knife. One officer shot the boy six times with an AR-15 rifle, while a second officer shot the boy twice with a handgun. At least one of the gunshots killed him.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Marlon Joel Rodas-Sanchez, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources