No charges for Redwood City police officers in killing of gunman using kids as human shields
REDWOOD CITY -- Five Redwood City police officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting death last year of an armed domestic violence suspect who police said was using children as human shields.
The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday an investigation concluded the November 15 shooting of Abran Gutierrez by Officers Luke Shoats, William Wolfe, Nicholas Muniz, Victor Figueroa, and Jose Montoya near the intersection of El Camino Real and Maple Street was legally justifiable self-defense and in defense of others.
Officers responded to a 911 call from someone who did not speak but the dispatcher heard a child screaming in the background before the caller hung up. A cellular tower helped direct officers to the phone's location on the 1500 block of El Camino Real.
When officers arrived, they found the 36-year-old Gutierrez with a woman he was in a relationship with and three children, including his own child he had fathered with the victim.
Police said Gutierrez, who was having a mental health crisis exacerbated by drug abuse, armed himself with a handgun and began attempting to use the children as a shield.
Gutierrez was shot and incapacitated; he later died at a local hospital. The woman was hospitalized with injuries not related to the shooting and the children were not hurt.
The shooting scene was captured by a passerby and posted on social media.
On Tuesday, District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe sent a letter to Redwood City Police Chief Dan Mulholland summarizing the facts of the case and the conclusions of his office's investigation clearing the officers.
"This was a dynamic, traumatic event where toddlers and infants, the most vulnerable amongst us, were placed in direct threat of great bodily harm or death by the reckless and dangerous acts of Mr. Gutierrez," said Wagstaffe. "I recognize that each officer on scene that day was required to make a series of rapid decisions as they formulated evolving strategies on how best to ensure they and innocent civilians all made it safely home that day."
Wagstaffe added, "Finally, I appreciate that each involved officer did consider and reasonably reject the use of less lethal means against Mr. Gutierrez, including tasers (which were deemed ineffective due to the distance and that Mr. Gutierrez was inside a closed space), a 40 mm less lethal launcher (deemed ineffective due to Mr. Gutierrez possessing a live, real firearm) and/or batons, which are ineffective when facing firearms."
Redwood City Police shooting - District Attorney letter to Police Chief
The DA's office said it would have the complete investigative report available for public inspection. Anyone seeking to read all or part of the reports should contact Chief Inspector William Massey of the District Attorney's Office Bureau of Investigations at Bmassey@smcgov.org.
