Officer-Involved Shooting in Central Area NR14171ne

Updated: 
The officer involved in the below incident has been identified as Sergeant I Joseph Sanchez.

 
Los Angeles:  On Monday, April 21, 2014, around 4:30 p.m., Central Area officers received a radio call of an "Assault with a Deadly Weapon suspect" in the 600 block of south Grand Avenue.  When an LAPD officer arrived on scene, several witnesses directed the officer to an underground parking garage where they believed the suspect was located.

As the officer drove down into the fifth level of the parking garage, he was flagged down by two security guards who directed him to the suspect, later identified as Andy Gomez, who was hiding behind a concrete pillar.  The officer exited his police vehicle and began to give commands to the suspect at which time he observed Gomez was armed with a box cutter.  Gomez refused to comply with the officers’ commands and began to approach him, still armed with the box cutter.  The officer deployed his OC spray which did not appear to affect Gomez.  When the suspect continued to advance on the officer while refusing to comply with his repeated commands, an officer-involved shooting (OIS) occurred.  Gomez was struck by the gunfire and fell to the ground where he was taken into custody without further incident by responding units.  

Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded and transported Gomez to a local hospital for medical treatment.

A box cutter was recovered from the area where Gomez fell to the ground.  No officers were injured during this incident.

Force Investigation Division responded to the incident and will conduct a thorough investigation of the officer-involved-shooting.

The investigation will ultimately be reviewed by the Chief of Police, the Office of the Inspector General and Board of Police Commissioners for compliance with the Departments use-of-force policy, which states that an officer’s use-of-force actions must be objectively reasonable.  

Additionally, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Justice System Integrity Division will conduct a comprehensive review of the facts of the officer-involved-shooting.  

Anyone with information is asked to call Force Investigation Division at (213) 486-5230.  During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247).  Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477).  Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.  All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.”  Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on "webtips" and follow the prompts.