SPRINGFIELD, Ore. - Deputies responding to a 911 call Sept. 6 from a woman who "feared for her life and the life of her family members" from a man who lived on the property arrived on scene to find the man in a recliner drinking alcohol.
Robert Gutierrez, 59, greeted the deputies in an armored vehicle "with expletives," according to the Lane County District Attorney.
"Deputies continued to communicate with Mr. Gutierrez from the ARV to come out empty handed so they could resolve the situation without anyone getting hurt," the DA said in a statement released Thursday.
Then something went wrong.
"Deputy Zachary LaFoca was at the hatch of the vehicle with an obstructed view requiring him to expose himself outside of the vehicle to be able to see Mr. Gutierrez by leaning outside of the hatch," the DA said. "The protective shield of the hatch malfunctioned leaving Deputy LaFoca completely exposed."
Mr. Gutierrez put the bottle down and raised a handgun pointing it toward the ARV with his right hand. He was ordered to drop the weapon and did not follow that command.
Deputy LaFoca fired his AR-15 rifle at Mr. Gutierrez three times. Mr. Gutierrez lowered the gun.
Deputies continued to give directions to Mr. Gutierrez. Mr. Gutierrez raised the firearm and pointed it toward the ARV and Deputy LaFoca again.
Deputy LaFoca fired again three times, stopping when the gun lowered and it was apparent that Mr. Gutierrez had been hit in the chest.
Deputies provided first aid until medics arrived. Gutierrez died at the scene.
"The time from when deputies arrived until shots were fired was less than a minute," according to the district attorney.
The call had come in as a domestic dispute on Camp Creek Road outside of Springfield.
The caller reported that Robert Gutierrez was intoxicated and was armed with a .22 handgun. The caller reported that she feared for her life and the life of her family members and that Mr. Gutierrez’s aggression was escalating. Mr. Gutierrez fired the weapon at the ground two or three times. The caller indicated she was in fear for her life, that it was unsafe for the people present to leave the premises and that they needed a law enforcement response. Mr. Gutierrez made statements alluding to “suicide by cop” and sent a threatening text message to one of the family members on scene noting the length of time it was taking for law enforcement to respond.
The shooting was investigated by the county's Interagency Deadly Force Investigative Team. Since 2008, Oregon law has required an investigation into any use of deadly force by law enforcement - even when the subject of the force survives.
"Interviews were conducted with the people at the scene, neighbors and responding deputies. There is no video of this incident as LCSO does not have body worn cameras and there were not security cameras at the location," according to the DA. "There were no civilian eye witnesses to the shooting but there were a number of ear witnesses who corroborated the statements of the deputies that they were communicating with a subject, a gun was observed, there were orders to drop the gun and come out with empty hands, and that there were two series of gun shots with communication about dropping the gun in between."
Deputy LaFoca described a fear for his life and the lives of the other deputies on scene upon seeing the raised firearm and an escalation in that fear when the gun was raised again after Mr. Gutierrez had been shot. Deputy LaFoca believed that Mr. Gutierrez would kill one of them to “take one of them out with him.”
"Based upon the evidence and witness statements, I find that this was a justified use of deadly force in defense of self or others," District Attorney Patty Perlow wrote.
She added:
Domestic disputes are one of the most dangerous incidents to which law enforcement officers must respond. An angry, intoxicated, armed person who has indicated a wish to be killed by police is perhaps the most dangerous situation to which law enforcement must respond. It is fortunate that no one from the family or law enforcement was physically hurt in this incident. The emotional pain to all involved may require a long time to heal. My condolences go to the family of Mr. Gutierrez.