Victor S. Rivera was 43 when he died in the early hours of December 14, 2013, at his family’s home on Hiapo Street in Waipahu. Police responded after a dropped 911 call and, by the time officers reached the backyard, Rivera was reportedly holding a long metal pole fitted with a blade. Witnesses told police he had threatened a family member and, according to officials, ignored commands to drop the weapon while making cutting motions toward officers.

Officers tried a Taser that reportedly did not stop him; a second officer then fired and Rivera was pronounced dead at the scene. Four Honolulu Police officers were placed on administrative leave. Rivera’s brother Randy later filed a federal lawsuit alleging Victor, diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2010, had stopped taking medication and that officers escalated a mental health crisis; the complaint named Officer Tyler Fujimoto and asserted Rivera dropped the pole after the Taser and was still shot. Reporting indicates no reliable evidence of arrests or criminal charges against officers as of the last contemporaneous accounts.

Did anyone in the neighborhood recall contacts with Rivera or know more about his treatment and the family’s efforts to get him help?