Documentary on Andy Lopez shooting to air again

Sonoma County independent filmmaker Ron Rogers’ documentary, “3 Seconds in October,” about the 2013 shooting of 13-year-old Andy Lopez by a Sonoma County deputy sheriff, will be broadcast again on local Public Broadcasting System TV affiliates beginning Oct. 22, the eighth anniversary of the Lopez shooting.

The 28-minute documentary, narrated by nationally known actor Peter Coyote, was originally broadcast on two Bay Area PBS stations in late July,

The film draws on interviews, previously confidential police investigative files and litigation records to give a second-by-second account of the shooting and a detailed chronology of efforts by local police and public officials to defend their actions.

The new broadcast dates are:

On KRCB (PBS affiliate Channel 22 — North Bay):

10:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22

11 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24

10 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27

On KPJK (PBS affiliate Comcast Channel 17 / DirecTV Channel 43 / Dish Channel 60 / AT&T Channel 43):

10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23

10 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28

Dates for national broadcast of “3 Seconds in October” will be announced soon.

A 30-second trailer is available at vimeo.com/584731167.

“3 Seconds in October” revisits the Oct. 22, 2013, fatal shooting of Lopez, 13, by Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy Erick Gelhaus at Moorland Avenue on the southern outskirts of Santa Rosa.

Lopez was carrying an airsoft gun, which fires small plastic BBs, when Gelhaus and his partner arrived on the scene. Police said the gun closely resembled an AK-47 assault rifle. Lopez was ordered to drop the weapon and was turning toward Gelhaus when the deputy fired the fatal shots.

Within two weeks of the shooting, the Lopez family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit at the U.S. District Court, which the sheriff’s office ultimately settled for $3 million in 2018, without an admission of liability by the county.

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On Twitter @danarts.