On the first day of a civil trial that will determine whether an off-duty Austin police officer’s shooting of a civilian was unjustified – and enabled by a lax disciplinary culture at the Austin Police Department – plaintiffs’ attorneys accused the officer, Gabriel Gutierrez, of making false or misleading statements and the Police Department of failing to adequately investigate the incident.
The case centers on the 2021 death of Alex Gonzales Jr., who was shot by Gutierrez and then fatally shot by responding officer Luis Serrato following a road rage incident. In a federal lawsuit against Gutierrez and the city of Austin, Gonzales’ parents argue that Gutierrez was unjustified in shooting Gonzales and that he was encouraged to do so because the Police Department was unlikely to discipline him.
Claims of this nature against municipalities rarely go to trial but in March, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman allowed the case to proceed based on sufficient evidence presented by the plaintiffs. He did, however, dismiss claims against Serrato, saying the officer’s use of force was justified based on what he knew at the time…