178. Having recounted the available evidence on the events, the Commission finds that the account of the policemen Piedra and Cabezas regarding the circumstances in which the operation was deployed is not consistent with several elements that emerge from the testimonial evidence and that suggest that during the deployment the following occurred: (i) an announcement by a policeman of intent to do Mr. Valencia harm; (ii) a death threat made by a police officer with the aim of finding him; (iii) use of lethal force as the only means employed to persuade Mr. Valencia, out of fear, to give himself up. 179. Thus, to recap, from the outset of the operation and intent was noted to punish Mr. Valencia Hinojosa, whose wife was told that “Valencia is dead because he's going to die.” By the time they located him, the policemen had already been chasing him, firing “into the air”; they also threatened to kill a child, Franklin García, as a means to locate him in the sports facility. Subsequently, lethal force was used in a bid to persuade him to surrender. 180. Regardless of the analysis made below of the two hypotheses on the cause of Mr. Valencia Hinojosa's death, the Commission finds that, having established that lethal force was used in the moments prior, this use of lethal force must be examined in the light of the American Convention and the relevant standards. 181. The Commission recalls that when state agents use lethal force, it is up to the State to show that they attempted other, less lethal means of intervention that proved fruitless and that the actions of the security forces were necessary and proportionate to the exigencies of the situation, in particular to the threat posed by the victim.154 Specifically, the Court has stated that force “must be used in keeping with the principles of legality, absolute necessity, and proportionality.”155 182. The Commission finds that the United Nations’ Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms allow law enforcement officials to use firearms “to arrest a person presenting such a danger and resisting their authority.”156 As part of the requirements for use of force to be permissible, the Principles say that: (i) it may be made only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these objectives; (ii) it “may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life”; (iii) law enforcement officials must give a “clear warning of their intent to use firearms”; and (iv) said warning must be given with sufficient time, unless to do so would endanger the law enforcement officials or other persons. 183. Upon examination of the present case in the light of the above criteria, the Commission notes to begin with that, in contrast to the accounts provided by the policemen Cabezas and Piedra, the testimony of the other witnesses indicates that the first shots were fired by them and were aimed at the place where Mr. Valencia Hinojosa was located. In particular, the testimony of Franklin Antonio Garcia indicates that "Policeman Valencia did not fire any shots from inside the bedroom; on the contrary, the shots were fired by Lieutenant Cabezas and Lieutenant Piedra.” 184. Taking into account that, according to this testimony, Mr. Valencia was not shooting at the policemen Piedra and Cabezas and, moreover, that according to the expert evidence, there were people at the sports complex who were variously hiding on the steps or behind a wall, while others were 80 and 60 meters away from the security guard's quarters (par. 104), the Commission finds that the policemen Piedra and Cabezas had a duty to explore means other than the use of lethal force to contain Valencia Hinojosa and protect the people in the vicinity. In this regard, the Commission recalls that agents who take part in an 154I/A Court H.R., Case of Zambrano-Vélez et al. v. Ecuador. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of July 4, 2007. Series C No. 166, par. 108. 155 I/A Court H.R. Case of Nadege Dorzema et al. v. Dominican Republic. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of October 24, 2012. Series C No. 251, par. 85. 156Principles 9 and 10 of the United Nations’ Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, Adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, Cuba, 27 August to 7 September 1990.