LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Newly-released video tracks the movement of Jorge Gomez, a man shot and killed by Las Vegas police during a downtown protest in June of 2020 sparked by the death of George Floyd.
Police say Gomez pointed a gun at officers before the shooting, but attorneys for the Gomez family say surveillance videos contradict that.
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“It was another clear use of excessive force by the police," said Dale Galipo, an attorney calling for accountability in Gomez’s death.
"And in this case, again, a person of color," he added.
Galipo says the newly-released surveillance video shows Gomez running away from Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers before he was killed.
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“His weapon was never pointed at anyone. In fact, it was never in his hands,” he said.
“You can’t just start killing human beings, whether you’re a police officer or not," said Galipo. "You have to be accountable and you have to be responsible.”
LVMPD released a statement saying in part:
“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.”
Tom Gleason, a former police officer with decades of experience in law enforcement says the surveillance video doesn’t tell the whole story.
It doesn’t capture what the officer perceives at the ground-level, he says, which could require quick decisions in a fast-moving situation.
DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE | Watch the full interview with Tom Gleason below.
“With this unfolding very, very quickly -- and that's part of what going on, as well with any background noise and everything -- they have to process it and make a decision," Gleason said. "And those decisions have to be made in a split second."
He says the officers had to take into account the threat level of the situation at the time.
“You have to make a determination. You can’t wait until after he is shot or shoots you -- or shoots a citizen -- and then you react to that,” he said.
Gomez’s mother asked the district attorney to file criminal charges.
“DA Wolfson needs to do his job, and his job is to prosecute cops not abiding by the law,” Jeanne Llera said.
The family says Gomez would have been 26 on Friday.
There is no body-camera footage of the shooting, his family says.
