Officers cleared in Redwood City shooting incident

According to the letter, Hart already cut himself several times with a kitchen knife before officers Roman Gomez and Leila Velez arrived at his home before 9 a.m. that day in response to his wife’s 911 call. He reportedly neither responded to Gomez’s orders to drop the knife nor was he subdued by Velez’s attempt to deploy a Taser before Gomez fired five shots at him as he advanced toward the officers in his backyard.

“Faced with the threat of imminent injury or death, the resort to lethal force was reasonable and appropriate,” concluded Wagstaffe in the March 20 letter. “The death of Mr. Hart is a tragic outcome for his family and the community, but it is my belief that both officers conducted themselves in a professional, reasonable and proper manner and to the last moment sought to avoid the very result caused by the conduct of Mr. Hart.”

Though pathologist Dr. Thomas Rogers’ autopsy determined the cause of Hart’s death to be multiple gunshot wounds, he also determined wounds to Hart’s neck and arms were a significant condition contributing to but not related to the immediate cause of death, according to Wagstaffe’s letter.

At approximately 8:45 a.m. Dec. 10, Hart’s wife Kristin Hart called 911 with a report that her husband was cutting himself in an effort to commit suicide. When Gomez and Velez arrived at the home where Kyle Hart lived with his wife and two children less than three minutes after the 911 call, Kristin Hart directed them to the backyard of the home, where Kyle Hart was standing, according to the letter.

Gomez reportedly directed Velez to arm herself with a Taser while he armed himself with a service pistol as the two walked to the backyard. The two found themselves nearly 40 feet away from Kyle Hart, who held a kitchen knife in his right hand and just stared at Gomez when he ordered the man to drop the knife, according to the letter.

Kyle Hart reportedly pointed the blade toward the officers and began moving toward them, causing Velez to discharge the Taser when he was within approximately 15 feet of the officers. Because only one of the two Taser probes struck the man, the Taser did not impart an incapacitating charge and Kyle Hart continued toward the officers. Fearing for his life and Velez’s safety, Gomez fired five shots at Kyle Hart when he was within 6 to 8 feet from the officer, according to the letter.

Both officers reported feeling there was no time to speak with Kyle Hart or use a less lethal alternative, and both felt their lives were in danger. After Kyle Hart fell to the ground, Velez moved the knife away from him and began life-saving measures until paramedics arrived and brought him to Stanford Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:37 a.m., according to the letter.

Having been together with Kyle Hart for 13 years and married to him for five years, Kristin Hart told investigators her husband never before indicated a desire to hurt himself. She said he had undergone treatment for anxiety-related issues for several years and was taking medication for anxiety. Between recently purchasing a “fixer-upper” home and the arrival of their second child three days before the incident, Kristin Hart reported her husband had experienced greater anxiety shortly before the incident but didn’t give her any indication that day that anything was wrong or out of the ordinary, according to the letter.

Wagstaffe’s decision to clear the two officers involved in the fatal incident of charges comes nearly three weeks after he cleared four San Mateo County sheriff’s deputies and one sergeant involved the Oct. 3 Taser incident that ended with the death of 36-year-old Chinedu Okobi in Millbrae. He also declined to file criminal charges against Daly City officers and Redwood City officers in two other 2018 Taser incidents resulting in the deaths of 34-year-old Warren Ragudo and 55-year-old Ramzi Saad, respectively.

The last officer-involved shooting Wagstaffe’s office investigated was a Dec. 30, 2017, incident in which seven Redwood City police officers and one San Mateo County sheriff’s deputy fired at 31-year-old Marco Antonio Carlos after he pointed his gun at an officer and fired in front of the Wells Fargo bank at 1900 Broadway. Finding no violations of California criminal statutes in the use of lethal force by the officers involved in the incident, Wagstaffe opted not to file any charges against them.

Acknowledging the tragic events that led to Kyle Hart’s death will live with his family forever, Wagstaffe said the incident is yet another reminder of the importance of working on mental health issues.

“It’s simply a reminder that to me that the ongoing increase in mental health issues in our community has to be a continuing effort of government and society to try and deal with,” he said. “These situations are very, very sad.”

If you or someone you know needs help, you can call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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