A vigil was held tonight in Hayward for a man shot and killed by police last year.

His mother tells KRON4 he was depressed and needed help. His mother believes Agustin Gonsalez would still be alive if police had used their training to calm him instead of kill him.

Loved ones organized a vigil for Gonsalez in front of Hayward CIty Hall Friday night.

The 29-year-old was killed by police outside his ex-girlfriend’s home Nov. 15.

“I would give anything to get my son back,” said Karla Gonsalez, the mother of the Hayward man. “I would have never thought in a million years I would be in this position.”

Someone in the area called police, reporting erratic behavior. His mother admits her son was going through a depression but believes police should have deescalated in what was a cry for help.

“I would have liked them to try and help him to talk to him, to see if they were able to talk him down,” Karla said. “He was crying from what i understand, he was sobbing, he was really crying. Just trying to see instead of using a lethal weapon and just try to talk to him — there could have been a different way.”

Three officers told Agustin to put down what they thought was a knife. When he didn’t, they fired 13 rounds killing him. Later they found it was instead a razor blade.

Their attorney stands by the family believing it didn’t have to end this way.

“While he may have taken a step or two toward them, he was not moving quickly and so two officers, two well trained officers certainly can control a man with a blade or box cutter — I have no doubt about that,” said the attorney for the family, Ben Nisenbaum.

The Hayward Police Department is conducting an internal investigation because of the use of force. Family will remember Agustin as a loving father of two who brightened the room.

The family would like to see body camera video and plans to file a civil lawsuit against the police department.

The police department did not return KRON4’s request for comment.

WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON:

>>MORE STORIES