More details have been released about what reportedly transpired between influencer Michael Duarte and the police before his death earlier this month.
Duarte — who is known online as @FoodWithBearHands — was reportedly shot by police on Saturday, November 8, in Castroville, Texas, after officers responded to a 911 call, a spokesperson for the Medina County Sheriff’s Office told TMZ on Wednesday, November 12.
The sheriff’s office told the outlet that Texas police received a call about a “male subject with a knife acting erratically,” who was later identified as Duarte.
Once on scene, Duarte reportedly approached a responding deputy in an allegedly threatening manner. After “multiple verbal commands” were given to the food influencer to “get on the ground,” Duarte allegedly “charged” the deputy.
The spokesperson for the sheriff’s office claims Duarte yelled, “I’m going to kill you,” as he moved toward one of the officers, which is when the deputy discharged two rounds from their weapon and struck him, per the sheriff’s office.
Duarte was reportedly given medical aid on scene before being transported to University Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, where he was pronounced dead.
Us Weekly has reached out to Medina County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers for comment.
News broke on Wednesday that Duarte, who amassed more than 2 million followers on social media for his food videos, died on Saturday following a “horrible incident.”
Duarte passed away in Texas just three days after he celebrated his nine-year wedding anniversary with wife Jessica. The couple share a 6-year-old daughter, Oakley.
“The world may know him as ‘FoodwithBearHands,’ but to us, he was a loving husband, father, brother and a great friend to many,” a GoFundMe page set up to cover funeral costs and help Duarte’s family in the wake of his death read.
The page noted, “This heartbreak came without warning, leaving Jessica to incur the expense of bringing him back home to California and covering funeral expenses.”
The GoFundMe organizer asked that followers donate to “make sure that Jessica and Oakley are taken care of as Michael would have wanted them to be. Your support would bring comfort, stability and a reminder that they are not carrying this weight alone.”
As of Wednesday, the page said that funeral plans for Duarte were “undecided” but there would be updates to follow.
“The family deeply thanks you for your love and support as they grieve through this tragic loss,” the fundraising page concluded.
Last month, Duarte gave insight into how he became a food influencer after growing up working in his uncle’s Mexican restaurant in California. He recalled working in different eateries throughout his 20s but during the coronavirus pandemic he had a “mental health crisis” that led him to rehab.
Once he was out of the treatment center, Duarte said he began working at Ruth’s Chris steakhouse and as the industry began to rebuild after covid shutdowns so did he.
“On my days off, I started posting food videos — my first one was with my daughter,” Duarte wrote via Instagram on October 25. “That’s when I realized how happy creating content made me. Over time, I began to see it wasn’t just a hobby — it could be a business, something bigger than myself.”
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