‘He Can’t Hear You!’: Deaf Man Shot Dead by Police as Neighbors Scream in Horror

A deaf man carrying a metal pipe was fatally shot by Oklahoma City police on Tuesday night as neighbors frantically tried to tell officers that he couldn’t hear their commands.

Magdiel Sanchez, 35, was shot and Tasered on a porch on Tuesday around 8:15 p.m. after he allegedly advanced toward officers following a hit-and-run involving his father, Police Capt. Bo Mathews said Wednesday.

The encounter unfolded after witnesses called police to report the hit-and-run, and said the driver, Sanchez’s father, had fled the scene and driven to the residence. Mathews did not know if anyone was injured in the crash, but said the car hadn’t struck anyone. Sanchez was not in the car at the time of the hit-and-run and had no criminal history, officials said.

Upon arriving at the house to investigate the accident, Lt. Matthew Lindsey saw Sanchez on the porch, holding a 2-foot-long metal pipe “wrapped in some type of material” with a small leather loop on the end of it, Mathews said.

A neighbor, Jolie Guebara, later told The Associated Press that Sanchez often carried the pipe to fend off stray dogs when he went for walks at night. (Read more from “‘He Can’t Hear You!’: Deaf Man Shot Dead by Police as Neighbors Scream in Horror” HERE)

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