SAN JOSE (BCN) -- San Jose police Friday afternoon released recordings and transcripts  of 911 and police dispatch tapes in the shooting death of a mentally ill man  who had attacked his brother with a knife.

      The tapes, along with police reports also made public Friday  afternoon, show responding officers followed protocol and had no choice but  to shoot and kill Daniel Pham, 27, in the backyard of his home on Branbury  Way on Mother's Day, police Lt. Rikki Goede said.

      The two officers, who fired a total of 14 rounds at Pham after he  allegedly moved towards them while holding a knife, "acted appropriately" by  using deadly force, Goede said.

      Twelve of the bullets hit Pham, who was pronounced dead at the  scene. A grand jury last week declined to file charges against the officers,  who are now back on active duty, Goede said.

      Pham's family has maintained police should have known Daniel was  mentally ill, as police had previously responded to their home to calm Daniel  down.

      But the police reports, released Friday pursuant to a decision last  week by the San Jose Rules and Open Government Committee, suggest officers  may not have known about Pham's mental co 911 calls at 11:33  a.m. One caller told the dispatcher his neighbor was "cut up" and that the  neighbor's brother was the attacker. The victim told the caller that the  attacker was "high right now."

      The second caller, a woman, identified the attacker as "Son Pham,"  her boyfriend's brother.

      At 11:37 a.m., a dispatcher related this information to responding  officers.

      "The suspect in this is a Son Pham," the dispatcher said,  according to the transcript. The dispatcher also noted a prior "5150" call,  for mental illness, at the same address.

      The mental-illness call "(is) associated to a Daniel Pham - not  sure if that's our (reporting party)," the dispatcher said.

      Officers Brian Jeffrey and Matthew Blackerby arrived at 11:40 a.m.  and saw Pham's brother, Brian, 29, in the front lawn, bleeding from a cut  across his neck. The officers spotted Daniel Pham in the home's fenced-in  yard, holding a knife and smoking a cigarette.

      Jeffrey pointed his gun at Pham and ordered him to drop the knife,  according to police reports. Pham "glared" at Jeffrey and continued to smoke  his cigarette, the reports say.

      Blackerby then followed the fence, topped with razor wire, around  a corner and shot Pham with his Taser. One of the Taser prongs lodged in  Pham's leg, while the second prong missed him, Goede said.

      Pham pulled out the Taser prong and appeared to advance toward  Blackerby with the knife, Goede said.

      Jeffrey, not knowing Blackerby was standing outside the fence,  thought his partner was in danger and jumped over the fence to help, Goede  said. Jeffrey again pointed his gun at Pham and demanded he drop the knife,  she said.

      Blackerby also jumped over the fence to assist, Goede said, and  Pham advanced toward both of them with the knife.

      "The suspect, he has the knife overhead, in a slashing motion,"  Goede told reporters during a press conference at police headquarters.

      When Pham ignored repeated verbal orders to drop the knife, both  officers opened fire, Goede said.

      Even after Pham was shot and lying on the ground, he continued to  grasp the knife, Goede said. One officer can be heard on the dispatch tape,  after the shots were fired, yelling, "Drop the knife, now!"

      Paramedics arrived at the scene, and Pham was pronounced dead at  11:51 a.m.

      "This was a very dynamic, fast-moving, ever-changing situation,"  Goede said, noting the officers had to take action quickly. The shooting  happened one minute, 44 seconds after the officers arrived, she said.

      Goede also noted the victim, Brian Pham, initially told police his  brother was high on drugs and did not mention any mental illness.

      An autopsy revealed Pham had only nicotine in his system, and no  other drugs.

      "The brother said in later interviews (with police), he did not  want to mention (Daniel) was mentally ill," thinking there would be a better  outcome that way, Goede said.

      The department's synopsis of the Pham shooting, also released this  afternoon, emphasizes the officers "were not aware that Daniel Pham and Son  Pham (were) the same individual." Son is Daniel Pham's Vietnamese name.

      In response to a reporter's question about a possible language  barrier, Goede said she did not know if Daniel Pham spoke or understood  English. All of the officers' orders were in English.

      A lawyer for the Pham family could not be reached for comment.

Click the box above to listen to the complete set of audio recordings.

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