On September 15, 2017, Prince William County police shot and killed our fifteen year old son, Ruben Urbina. 

The day Ruben  was killed, he experienced a major depressive episode. That morning, we were in the process of getting him the help he needed. We didn’t know that the police had been called, but when we knew that they were coming, we were initially thankful. We thought they would attend to Ruben in a professional manner, do no harm, and call medical services for further evaluation and medical treatment. 

Instead, police shot Ruben. Within a matter of minutes, we lost our son.  

The Commonwealth Attorney of Prince William County, Paul Ebert, said that the killing was fully justified and that there would be no further investigation on their behalf.  Ebert struggled to describe Ruben’s mental state and used a lot of different terms to describe him. He said Ruben was “mentally distraught,” had “mental problems,” and was “experiencing some kind of mental disability.” 

This is not an isolated event. Police have a history of exerting violence against people with mental illness. Nationwide, about one in four people who are shot and killed by police officers experienced acute mental or emotional distress at the time of their death. More than half of the people killed involve police agencies that do not have trained officers to deal with people with mental or emotional distress. 

Ruben left this earth way too young. No family should ever have to go through what we are going through. Together our family, and the community will make sure that Ruben did not die in vain and that his memory lives on.  

We want Justice For Ruben in order to make sure that no one, especially those that care and love for a family member with mental health illness, experience this avoidable tragedy at the hands of police. 

We held a vigil for Ruben to honor his life, see the video here: http://www.fauquier.com/prince_william_times/news/video-family-friends-remember-haymarket-police-shooting-victim-as-brilliant/article_69cc5dfe-a8a9-11e7-bdba-c3cb756f4ae5.html