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Photos by Dhoryan Rizo
Friends and neighbors of the fallen Amilcar Perez-Lopez, the 21-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who was shot to death by two plainclothes San Francisco police officers—Eric Reboli and Craig Tiffe— said their final farewells on Saturday, April 4 from Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church in the Mission.
After more than a month of legal hassles including an autopsy, Perez-Lopez’s body is finally being returned to his hometown of San Jose La Arada in the Chiquimula department of Guatemala.
Perez-Lopez was killed on Feb. 26 while allegedly trying to retrieve his stolen cell phone from an acquaintance. Perez-Lopez, who was armed with a knife, was fatally shot in front of his home at 24th and Folsom streets after being confronted by police.
Eyewitness accounts differed from that of the SFPD.
Perez-Lopez’s roommate stated that he dropped the knife upon being confronted by officers, turning and running in the opposite direction before being shot. Police say Perez-Lopez attacked the officers before being shot.
His neighbor, Florencia Rojo, and construction coworker Eduardo Roman, collected and sent $2,000 to Perez-Lopez’s family. His parents, who live in a shack inrural Guatemala, speak an indigenous dialect and almost no Spanish. The oldest of five siblings, Perez-Lopez was his family’s sole provider.