Shocking new details emerge about beloved food influencer Michael Duarte’s deadly knife standoff with police

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New details have emerged surrounding the shocking death of beloved food influencer Michael Duarte. 

Food With Bear Hands, a popular social media personality, passed away on November 8th at the age of 36 following an incident with police in Texas.

Officers responded to a 911 call reporting a ‘male subject with a knife acting erratically.’ 

The Medina County Sheriff’s Office reports that Duarte reportedly ran at a deputy while threatening to kill them.

The deputy shot Duarte twice. Medical personnel treated him at the scene before he was taken to a hospital, where he died.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office has officially confirmed that he died from the gunshot wound and ruled his death a homicide, according to a statement to People magazine on Wednesday.

The Daily Mail is still waiting to hear back from both the Medina County Sheriff’s Office and the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office.

It’s been a really tough week since losing my husband, Duarte. I wanted to share that I’m honestly just taking things one day at a time and trying to navigate this immense grief. I posted on Instagram because I wanted to be real about how much I’m struggling – it’s definitely not easy.

The couple recently celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary and have a six-year-old daughter named Oakley. Sadly, he passed away shortly after.

After Michael’s death, Jessica shared stories about him on his Instagram, explaining she was doing what felt best to honor his memory and cope with her grief.

‘Whether they be about his content or Mike as my husband, daddy and friend to all.’

Jessica shared that she’s deeply moved by the support from fans and intends to honor his memory and support his family going forward.

He always gave so much to others, and now I want to return the favor. I’m still figuring out how best to do that, but I hope he’ll guide me.

She also thanked everyone who offered their support, saying she felt incredibly loved and empowered. She specifically appreciated the support of her close friends and the community around Mike’s BBQ, who made her feel like she had a strong network behind her. ❤️

Jessica shared, with sadness, that she’s still grieving his loss, but she’s beginning to understand he had a greater purpose in life.

I’m noticing God working in unexpected ways, and I’m hopeful it will bring our family some much-needed peace.

She then shared a heartfelt message with Michael, saying, ‘I’m so proud to be your wife, and I’ll always cherish that role. Goodbye, Dad ❤️.’

Jessica mentioned that they are planning a funeral service, and the police are still actively investigating the situation.

She recently posted a heartfelt message remembering her husband after he passed away last weekend.

Jessica recently expressed how devastated she felt, saying it had been a full day since her life changed completely. She described feeling numb, angry, and deeply sad, and explained that no words could truly capture the extent of her pain. She added that she never imagined she’d find herself in this situation.

While the world knew you as foodwithbearhands, we knew you as a devoted husband and father. Your death was undeserved.

She shared, “I’ll love you always, and I’ll be strong for our daughter. I know how much you cared for both of us. Please take a moment to send prayers for our family. To my husband, I’ll miss you terribly…until we’re together again.”

The social media personality from California, known as @foodwithbearhands, recently died shortly after celebrating his wedding anniversary.

News of Michael’s passing was announced in a tribute from his talent agency, Alooma Media Group.

We are deeply saddened to announce the death of our client and friend, Michael Duarte.

He was a dedicated and reliable colleague, someone we truly trusted and enjoyed working with. More than that, he was an exceptional individual. His enthusiasm, skill, and innovative ideas had a significant and positive impact on our team and all who knew him.

A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help with the costs of Michael’s funeral and to cover the expenses of bringing him home to California.

Michael amassed a following of over 850,000 fans on Instagram with his cooking videos.

He began sharing cooking videos online as a fun pastime during the pandemic, and kept it up even while working to restore a restaurant.

‘On my days off, I started posting food videos again – my first one was with my daughter,’ he said in a biography shared on Instagram. ‘That’s when I realized how happy creating content made me.

I gradually realized this wasn’t just something I enjoyed; it had the potential to become a real business, something with significant growth possibilities.

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2025-12-10 20:49