Advocates remember man killed in 2020 downtown Las Vegas shooting

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Community advocates are coming together to remember Jorge Gomez on what would have been his birthday.

On Monday, community advocates gathered on what would be the birthday of Gomez. He was 25 years old when he was shot and killed by four Las Vegas police officers who did not face criminal charges.

A rally was held in remembrance of Gomez and to celebrate what would have been his 29th birthday in front of the Lloyd D. George Courthouse where he was struck. On June 1, 2020, he was reportedly walking toward his car to leave a demonstration for George Floyd when Metro officers began firing at him.

The District Attorney released a 79-page report on Gomez’s death and the events leading up to it. The report calls the officers actions reasonable and legally justified. In April 2021, Metro Detective Jason Leavitt, the lead investigator in Gomez’s death presented facts of the case to the public, including why there was no body camera footage of the shooting.

“His team had been placed in uniform because of the protest and civil unrest, but since he is not a daily uniformed officer, he was not assigned a body worn camera and was not wearing a body worn camera during this incident,” said Leavitt.

Leavitt says none of the four officers directly involved in the shooting were wearing body cameras, but all stated they shot Gomez after he pointed a gun at them. Metro police say he was armed and not following commands.

Involved officers Sgt. Ryan Fryman, 40, Officer Daniel Emerton, 38, Officer Vernon Ferguson, 36, and Officer Andrew Locher, 53 were Range Training Staff assigned to Metro’s Organizational Development Bureau at the time.

Llera says he fell to the ground and officers continued to strike him multiple times. Gomez was found to be carrying loaded handguns.

During the fact-finding review of the shooting, a police detective said video of the incident showed that Gomez did not raise his a firearm despite what the officers first reported.

None of the officers had body cameras on.

The family of Gomez argues he was murdered by the officers and filed a wrongful death lawsuit that names the five officers and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The defendants in the case have attempted to get the lawsuit dismissed, which was not granted, according to Geordan Logan, an attorney in the case.

A court-ordered mediation is next in an attempt to settle the case, but no trial date has been set.

FOX5 reached out to LVMPD for a statement regarding this case, they said they do not comment on pending litigation.