Officer testifies he saw fatally shot protester’s rifle ‘come up,’ but didn’t initially tell investigators

An officer said Tuesday that he did not initially tell investigators about seeing an armed protester raise or point a gun before police killed the protester.

Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Lee was the last witness who testified to jurors in the federal civil trial over the fatal shooting of Jorge Gomez. The shooting occurred near the federal courthouse in downtown Las Vegas on June 1, 2020, the third night of protests over the murder of George Floyd.

Key to the case, which a jury is expected to begin deliberating Wednesday, is the question of whether or not Gomez pointed a rifle at officers. Police have testified that he did. Attorneys for Gomez’s family have said he did not.

Lee testified Tuesday he saw Gomez’s rifle begin to “come up,” but told jurors he did not think it was necessary to mention in his first interview the night of the shooting. He was instructed by a union representative to simply answer the questions investigators asked, he said.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Dale Galipo asked Lee about an interview question in which he was asked if there was anything else he wanted to share to help with the investigation.

“Wouldn’t that have been an opportunity to tell them: ‘Oh, by the way, I did see him raising the rifle or pointing the rifle,’ or something like that?” Galipo asked.

The Clark County district attorney’s office decided not to prosecute the four Metropolitan Police Department officers who shot at Gomez: Ryan Fryman, Dan Emerton, Andrew Locher and Vernon Ferguson.

Gomez’s family sued the officers and the Metropolitan Police Department.

Lee told jurors that on the night of the shooting, he was in front of federal court in a vehicle with other officers.

He said he noticed a man carrying a rifle, which caused the officers to leave the vehicle for their safety because it was a potential target. The rifle was initially pointed down, according to Lee.

Eventually, Lee returned to the vehicle, he said, and saw the man place his hand on the rifle’s grip.

Lee testified that he yelled at Gomez to take his hand off the rifle. Gomez turned and faced away, he said.

The officer also said he saw Gomez’s gun barrel start to “come up” and believed other lives were in danger. The rifle looked like it was pointed, he said, and “ready to be used.”

Lee said he drew his own gun but did not feel like he could take an accurate shot. He did not witness the fatal shooting because he was looking for cover, he told the jury.

The officer testified that he did not think he said in the initial statement that he pulled out his own gun.

Lee also told the jury about a detective firing a beanbag shotgun at Gomez before the fatal shooting.

He said he recognized the rounds were nonlethal, but did not see them fired. Gomez turned toward officers after grabbing the rifle but before they fired beanbags, he said.

Detective John Squeo — also a defendant in the case — has testified that he fired the beanbag gun because he believed Gomez was about to attack a colleague.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal previously reported that Squeo resigned from Metro after a disorderly conduct case.

Boe Dennett, another detective, testified Monday that Squeo shot Gomez with the beanbag gun after Gomez started to lift his hand holding what appeared to be a pipe or bat, but turned out to be a gun.

Other officers, like Fryman, have testified that they did not know that the initial rounds were from a beanbag gun. Fryman previously told the jury he believed Gomez was firing his weapon at police.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.