Ninety days after Santa Rosa police turned over their investigative reports into the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Andy Lopez, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday it is still investigating the case to determine whether a sheriff's deputy who fired the fatal shots violated the law.
A small group of demonstrators with the Justice Coalition for Andy Lopez gathered at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday outside the office of District Attorney Jill Ravitch to demand that she release her decision about Deputy Erick Gelhaus.
Gelhaus shot Lopez last October while the teen was walking along Moorland Avenue carrying an airsoft BB gun. The deputy told police that he thought Lopez was carrying an assault weapon.
The county's protocol regarding the investigation of fatal, officer-involved shootings states that it is the District Attorney's responsibility to provide a written summary within 90 days, addressing whether or not the officer broke the law.
Ravitch has said the 90-day time window is a "guideline," not a legal requirement. In a statement Monday, Ravitch said she was "mindful" that the community is anxious for the District Attorney's office to issue a decision. She did not provide a timeline for when the report will be finished.
"I will release my decision and its basis to the public once we have completed this process," Ravitch said.
She added that attorneys and investigators have taken numerous steps so far, including a "thorough" review of the investigation by Santa Rosa police; additional interviews and re-interviews of witnesses; seeking out expert consultants; requesting extra forensic analysis of evidence; and getting "extensive" background information about the people involved in the shooting and the unincorporated southwest Santa Rosa neighborhood where it took place.
Her office is still waiting for the final reports of the expert consultants, among other things, Ravitch said.
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