Man shot and killed at the Farmersville police station identified
FARMERSVILLE, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Tulare County Sheriff has identified the man who died during an officer-involved shooting in Farmersville. He's identified as 26-year-old Estevan Gomez of Farmersville. Police say Gomez was being booked into custody when he got into a fight with two officers at the Farmersville police station.
Police say Esteven Gomez was almost able to get a gun away from one of the officers. The chief says the suspect seized the moment when he was un-cuffed briefly, while officers took pictures of evidence on his body.
Gomez is well known by Farmersville police. But despite this, the chief says the 26-year-old lied about his name when he was pulled over Saturday night for a traffic violation. While he was being booked, the chief says the suspect got into a physical and violent fight with a female and male officer.
Farmersville Police Chief Mario Krstic said, "The weapon was actually upholstered and they were struggling over control."
Toxicology results are pending on the suspect. Officers say Saturday night, the six foot one, 200 pound suspect appeared to have superhuman strength and even a taser application did not slow him. The chief says a portion of the attack was captured on tape, but not the deadly shooting, since it went from room to room.
Chief Krstic said, "Our booking room does have surveillance video footage of that room itself. However, the report writing room, obviously the supervisors office do not have footage in there."
Investigators say the suspect's friend was also being booked in jail. The chief says he was sitting on a bench in the booking room the entire time, following orders.
The officers did suffer minor injuries during the fight. They were treated at the hospital and released. The chief says so far, it appears the officers followed proper procedure. Both the Tulare County Sheriff's Office and Visalia Police Department are investigating.
