HAYWARD — The family of a man fatally shot by Hayward police officers in November, who ended up having a razor blade in his hand, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.
Agustin “Augie” Gonsalez, 29, of Lathrop was visiting his former girlfriend about 9 p.m. Nov. 15 in the 24600 block of O’Neil Avenue when police said a witness reported he was brandishing a knife and acting erratically. A 20-minute video was released earlier this month by police, and it was revealed that he did not have a knife in his hand, but instead a razor blade.
The lawsuit, filed by civil rights attorney John Burris on Thursday in U.S. District Court, Northern District, names the two officers as Phillip Wooley and Michael Clark. The two officers are said to have shot 13 rounds at Gonsalez.
“There are more questions at this point than answers,” Chief Mark Koller said in an interview with this newspaper earlier this month. “Until then, I ask — and it’s a huge ask — that the community remain patient.”
Gonsalez’s death prompted concern and outrage from relatives and friends who said the shooting was not justified and more could have been done to save his life. Supporters held a vigil in January.
Gonsalez was an “obviously mentally impaired” man the lawsuit said, and had in his possession a standard safety razor blade, which was 1.5 inches long.
“Mr. Gonsalez threatened no one when defendants shot him, had his hands down in front of his waist,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit details the events that led to police being called on Gonsalez that night. Gonsalez had threatened to hurt himself with a razor that evening. Later on, he and a neighbor of his ex-girlfriend got into a verbal fight that escalated to a fist fight, the lawsuit said.
At some point during this fist fight, the neighbor called police to report that Gonsalez had a knife and was threatening him.
Gonsalez made several statements to police when they arrived, including, “You can’t shoot me.”
The lawsuit said that police ordered Gonsalez to drop the knife, but he had no knife to drop. The orders were repeated as Gonsalez approached the officer while holding an object in his right hand, according to police. But the lawsuit alleges that as he was walking toward police saying “can’t shoot me,” officers began firing, despite that they were armed with Taser guns.
Gonsalez was hit 10 times out of the 13 rounds shot at him by police. He later died at the hospital.
Officers “miserably failed” to protect the public, including the mentally impaired like Gonsalez, the lawsuit alleges.
Gonsalez’s family also has said that it took the city of Hayward a day to inform them of his death, which added “insult to this egregious use of force.”
Besides an undisclosed amount of damages, the lawsuit also asks for retraining of its officers and a policy change to make sure that they are properly trained to handle the mentally impaired in a reasonable way.
Staff Writers Rick Hurd and Harry Harris contributed to this story.