Irvine officers fatally shoot autistic man after standoff with knife

On July 21, Irvine police responded to a 911 call from Daniel Meltvedt, a 20-year-old who had recently discontinued an antipsychotic drug and expressed suicidal intent. Arriving at a residential trail, officers observed him standing with a kitchen knife and heard him repeatedly ask to be shot. The department’s Crisis Negotiation Team conducted a lengthy dialogue, attempting to persuade him to relinquish the blade, while his father, Erich Meltvedt, was present but barred from speaking directly to his son.

As negotiations stalled, officers drew tasers, which Meltvedt perceived as a threat, and he continued to demand that they fire. When he finally sprinted toward the line of officers, eight shots were fired, and he later died despite medical assistance. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is conducting a probe that could extend for a year, and the family has criticized the police response as overly aggressive.