Three adolescents died in violent circumstances in the United States, Mexico and Argentina this week, according to local authorities and family accounts, drawing fresh attention to the dangers facing young people in settings ranging from a mental-health crisis to organised-crime flashpoints and street robbery.

In Santa Ana, California, a 15-year-old boy identified as Jaden Michaca was fatally shot by police on 14 June during a response to a 911 call reporting a family disturbance. The Santa Ana Police Department said officers forced open an apartment door and encountered the boy holding a knife; the department stated only that “an officer-involved shooting occurred.” The family filed a legal claim against the city this week, alleging that officers fired seven or eight times without warning, that the boy was experiencing a severe mental-health crisis, and that the department had previously placed him on multiple mental-health holds. The claim also asserts that the boy’s mother was struck by gunfire and sustained hand injuries. The city manager’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

In the northern Mexican city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, a 14-year-old was shot dead outside his home in the Los Girasoles neighbourhood on Monday night. State prosecutors confirmed the killing, with local media identifying the victim as Cristian Yael or Christopher Yahir. Witnesses told investigators that armed individuals arrived in a vehicle and fired repeatedly at the teenager as he returned home on a motorcycle before fleeing. No arrests have been reported. The same day, Sinaloa authorities recorded six homicides and five wounded across the state, including an eight-year-old boy injured by shrapnel during a carjacking attempt and a 16-year-old girl hit by gunfire when she was caught in a confrontation between state police and armed suspects in Navolato. The region has endured months of violence linked to factional infighting within the Sinaloa Cartel, according to local security analysts.

In Buenos Aires province, Argentina, a 17-year-old student, Lautaro Fabrizio Lionel Servín, was shot dead on Tuesday morning while walking to school with his father in San Francisco Solano. Provincial police said two assailants on a motorcycle attempted to rob the pair and opened fire. The teenager was struck in the back and died of cardiac arrest at a local hospital despite being rushed there by a neighbour. His father told investigators that after the initial shots, the attackers noticed the boy was still alive and fired again before escaping. A neighbour who serves in the naval prefecture fired a warning shot into the air but could not stop the assailants. Prosecutors have classified the case as homicide and are analysing security-camera footage; no suspects had been detained by Tuesday evening.

Separately, in Frisco, Texas, the family of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, who was stabbed to death at a high-school track meet in April, is grappling with the public release of graphic trial evidence after the convicted killer, Karmelo Anthony, was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Anthony’s legal team, now expanded with civil-rights and defence attorneys working pro bono, has filed a motion to appeal the conviction. The victim’s father told Fox News he had not previously seen the images of his son’s fatal chest wound and questioned the necessity of making them public. All four cases remain under active investigation or judicial review, with authorities in Mexico and Argentina yet to identify or apprehend those responsible.