Lawyer releases new video of fatal shooting by police at BLM protest
Attorneys representing the family of a man who was shot and killed last summer by Las Vegas police during a Black Lives Matter protest released six new videos on Friday of the moments leading up to and immediately following the deadly encounter.
Friday would have been Jorge Gomez’s 26th birthday.
“Instead of celebrating, we’re mourning,” his younger sister, Jazmin, said Friday during a news conference outside the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse, where the shooting occurred. “We should be eating cake. Instead, none of us are probably going to be able to eat tonight. We’ll be too busy thinking about the videos released today.”
Gomez was shot on the evening of June 1 as a protest against racism and police brutality — sparked by the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody — was coming to an end in downtown Las Vegas. Gomez had participated in similar protests throughout the week leading up to his death.
In the days following the shooting, the Metropolitan Police Department claimed that four officers opened fire at Gomez after he reached for a weapon as he ran from a group of law enforcement officials stationed outside the courthouse, near Las Vegas Boulevard and Bridger Avenue. During a news conference at the time, Assistant Sheriff Chris Jones said investigators had not located footage of Gomez reaching for his weapon.
The videos released Friday range in length from about 3 minutes to 22 minutes and provide more context to the shooting but, due to the low resolution, do not offer a clear or complete view of Gomez’s actions before the gunfire.
One of the clearest videos, which is roughly 7 minutes long, shows Gomez running away from the group of officers, his back turned toward them, when, according to Metro’s version of events, he raised and pointed a weapon at police.
Metro has not provided the public with further updates on its internal investigation into the shooting since the initial news conference in June but released the following statement on Friday: “The surveillance video released today by the Gomez family appears to be the same video that the LVMPD gave to the family’s counsel. The video was originally obtained by the LVMPD and is one piece of evidence that is being evaluated in the ongoing investigation. The LVMPD asks that anyone who may have video of the event please contact the LVMPD.”
Attorney Rodolfo Gonzalez, who is part of a team of attorneys representing the Gomez family, said they fought with Metro for eight months to get copies of the videos.
The footage was handed over to the legal team about two weeks ago, according to Gonzalez.
‘Just trying to go home’
Neither Gomez’s relatives nor their counsel have denied that he was armed on the night of his death. He had a Glock 19 handgun holstered on his hip and a Glock 23 pistol, nestled into a carbine conversion kit, slung over his shoulder.
But they dispute Metro’s narrative of the shooting.
“He took part in the Black Lives Matter demonstration with guns on his person and a ballistics vest — all in compliance,” Gonzalez said. “All in compliance with Nevada’s open-carry laws. He was exercising his Second Amendment right to bear arms.”
Snippets of the newly obtained videos were played Friday on a small television monitor set up near the steps of the courthouse for reporters and about a hundred community members who were there to support the Gomez family.
“His hands are clearly visible. No gun in hand. No baseball bat in hand,” Gonzalez said, pointing out Gomez on the screen. “In a few seconds, you’re going to see him running northbound, and right where the rocks are, he trips and he falls.”
Gomez’s family members and friends, standing behind the monitor, cried as Gonzalez narrated the young man’s death.
According to the 7-minute-long video, Gomez began running away from the courthouse steps, toward Bridger Avenue, after a Metro officer fired nonlethal rounds at him. That officer, identified publicly this week for the first time in court documents as John Squeo, has said he believed Gomez was armed with a baseball bat.
Squeo joined the department in 2014, according to Metro employment records.
As Gomez ran from Squeo, he tripped over a patch of gravel. The video shows Gomez bracing his fall with his hands before pushing himself back onto his feet.
“He falls palms open, face first, no guns in hand,” Gonzalez said. “That’s the important point: no guns in hand. And then he gets up, and a few seconds later, he’s dead.”
Later, Jeanne Llera, Gomez’s mother, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that her son was trying to cut through an alley between the Historic Fifth Street School and the Foley Federal Building to get to his car when he encountered the group of officers stationed on the courthouse steps.
“He was just trying to go home,” Llera said, her cheeks stained with dried tears.
After the shooting
Sgt. Ryan Fryman and officers Dan Emerton, Vernon Ferguson and Andrew Locher fired a combined 19 rounds at Gomez.
The officers were placed on paid leave in June pending Metro’s investigation into the shooting. A request to the Police Department for an update on whether the officers have returned to duty was not answered Friday.
Fryman, Emerton, Ferguson, Locher and Squeo are named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of the Gomez family. The federal lawsuit accuses the officers and Metro of negligence, excessive force, denial of medical care and violating Gomez’s First Amendment rights.
“It took a second for LVMPD to kill my brother,” Jazmin Gomez said Friday, “but it took 22 minutes for them to help him.”
One of the videos released Friday, another roughly 7-minute-long video, shows that the protester did not receive any medical attention in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
In the video, Jorge Gomez is seen lying on the ground for about two minutes after the shooting before a group of officers approaches his motionless body.
As the officers hover over the body, Jorge Gomez does not move. Yet, the officers appear to cuff his hands behind his back and pat him down several times. No medical aid was rendered to Jorge Gomez for the duration of the video.
Gonzalez, one of the family’s attorneys, said they soon will release five more videos that show the exact moment Gomez was shot.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.