♪♪ (gunfire blasting) - [Officer] Shots fired.

- [Dispatcher] Shots fired.

- [Officer] One subject down.

Code three ambulance used to block Moorland.

- [Officer] Don't move!

(police radio chatter) - [Dispatcher] West Robles and Moorland.

We've got shots fired, a code 20.

(police radio chatter) (somber ambient music) - [Narrator] On the afternoon of October 22nd, 2013, 13-year-old Latino Andy Lopez walked in his neighborhood in Santa Rosa, California.

Andy, a popular eighth grader, lived in the Moorland area of Santa Rosa, a lower income part of town with a large Latino population.

Andy was returning a toy gun to a friend.

(footsteps pattering) (somber ambient music) (police radio chatter) Nearby, two sheriff deputies were on routine patrol.

Deputy Michael Schemmel, who had been with the Sheriff's Office for one month, was driving.

His passenger was his training officer, Deputy Erick Gelhaus.

It was a quiet afternoon.

Several people saw Andy.

They noticed he was a kid and that he seemed to be carrying either a toy gun or a BB gun.

Gelhaus and Schemmel saw Andy walking about a 100 feet ahead of them.

(police radio chatter) (siren blaring) (gunfire blasting) - [Officer] Shots fired.

- [Officer] Shots fired.

- [Officer] One subject down.

A code three ambulance used to block Moorland.

- [Officer] Don't move!

- [Officer] At about geo.

(siren blaring) - [Announcer] 3:30 on the drive.

We're getting a report of a possible shooting in Santa Rosa.

There is a police action going on now.

There are reports of a shooting.

We will continue to follow this and keep you posted.

(police radio chatter) (sirens blaring) - [Narrator] What happened?

The shooter was Sonoma County Deputy Sheriff Erick Gelhaus.

- [Male Speaker] Police stand off, gunpoint.

I don't want to be here actually.

I need to get out of here.

I'm in the line of fire.

- He pulled over to the kid walking, so the kid would walk inside.

And he just opened the door and shooted.

(somber ambient music) - It hits him in the chest, it hits him in the heart, and he falls immediately, and he's shot over, and over, and over again as he's falling and as he's on the ground.

- [Narrator] Tom Cozine of the fire department arrived on the scene within minutes.

- Our initial reaction was it was a drive-by shooting.

We were never told anything other than that.

And it was very shortly after that, the heart reading was flatline.

It didn't make a lot of sense to me.

It just seemed like in my judgment, the deputy was quick on the trigger.

- [Narrator] In hindsight, the key details in the last few minutes of Andy's life became clearer.

Gelhaus and Schemmel saw Andy walking about 100 feet ahead of them.

(police radio chatter) Gelhaus called in a code 20 report.

- [Erick] Edward 32, code 20, west Robles and Moorland.

- [Narrator] To alert officers in the area of possible danger.

Schemmel suddenly accelerated forward, (siren blaring) blipped his siren, and came to a stop about 50 feet from Andy.

The deputies bailed out of the patrol car.

Gelhaus yelled at Andy, "Drop the gun!"

(clock ticking) - You hear somebody yelling at you in clearly aggressive tones, and you turn around.

And that's exactly what he did.

He had the toy gun in his left hand.

He turns around.

(gunfire blasting) He's shot over, and over, and over again.

- [Officer] We have shots fired.

- [Officer] Shots fired.

- [Officer] One subject down, code three ambulance used to block Moorland.

- [Officer] Don't move!

- [Officer] At about geo.

We'll also need units to come behind us at West Robles.

- [Dispatcher] One subject down.

Units to block Moorland.

I didn't copy the rest.

- [Narrator] Under oath, at a deposition taken two years later, Gelhaus demonstrated how Andy turned in the last seconds before he was shot.

- It was this.

It was this.

It was this.

- [Narrator] The toy gun was pointed down as Andy turned.

The investigation of Deputy Gelhaus's shooting was conducted by the Santa Rosa Police Department.

By longstanding agreement, the sheriff and the police, two local law enforcement agencies, investigate each other.

After the shooting, Deputy Gelhaus was taken to a hotel where he conferred with his union representative and attorney for six hours before being interviewed by police.

Meanwhile, police took Andy's parents and brother to the Santa Rosa Police Department for questioning.

One interrogating officer was an officer assigned to the Gang Crimes Team.

Did Andy have trouble at school?

Anger management issues?

Was he overly fond of guns?

Detectives tried unsuccessfully to get Andy's brother to implicate him in gang activity and asked whether they shared the same father.

Only at the end of the interrogation were they told that Andy was dead.

At the hotel, after six hours conferring with his attorney and union representative, Deputy Gelhaus was finally questioned.

- [Interviewer] Erick, this is a criminal investigation.

And you're being interviewed as a victim, strictly as a victim at this point.

- [Narrator] Producers of this film, through a lawsuit, obtained the audio recording of that interview.

- [Interviewer] AK47 or a shoulder mounted weapon.

Was your impression that he was trying to mount the gun to his shoulder?

- I think if a member of the public could see the tone of these interviews, with someone who's just taken a human life and should be considered a suspect just like anybody else who shot somebody until shown otherwise, the difference between how a law enforcement officer is questioned and anyone else who might've shot someone is questioned is incredible.

- It is simply shocking how the investigator leads the witness and tells them exactly what they want them to say.

It would go so far as, for instance, to have the investigators say, isn't it true that you really felt scared?

- [Interviewer] So you think he said he was holding the gun in his left hand, but he started to raise it in your direction.

Did you perceive that to be a lethal threat?

- [Erick] Yes.

- [Interviewer] Did you fear for the safety of Deputy Schemmel as well?

- [Erick] Yes.

- [Interviewer] You fired those, I believe you say six to eight rounds.

It was at that point in time when the subject fell and it was at that point in time where you felt there was no longer a threat, and that's why you stopped firing.

- [Erick] Yes.

- [Interviewer] 'Cause the threat was, okay, okay.

And just for clarification purposes, I've known you.

There's no close relationship between you or I that would perceived to be or create any kind of bias due to this investigation.

- [Erick] Not that I can think of, no.

- [Interviewer] Yeah, none that I can think of as well.

- [Narrator] Hank Shreeder was Chief of Police at the time of the Lopez investigation.

- The perception of whether or not the officers and detectives at Santa Rosa Police Department can do a fair and objective report when it comes to a critical incident like Andy Lopez or any other.

And I always ask the question, it comes down to, why don't you trust that we can?

(somber orchestral music) (clock ticking) - [Announcer] It is a certain sign of tragedy, the memorial to 13-year-old Andy Lopez gaining size by the hour in a suburban Santa Rosa field.

- This boy was not a criminal.

He is not a criminal.

He was a boy with a toy.

- Initially, the subject's back was toward the deputies.

When the deputy shouted at the subject, he began to turn toward his right in the direction of the deputy, and in so doing, he moved the gun toward the direction of the deputy.

And the deputy's mindset was that he was fearful that he was going to be shot.

- [Protestors] We want justice, we want justice!

(protestors chanting) - [Narrator] The largest demonstrations ever seen in Sonoma County started immediately and continued for months.

- [Protestors] Justice for Andy, Justice for Andy!

Justice for Andy, Justice for Andy!

- [Narrator] The Santa Rosa Police Department investigation took three months to complete.

One central question was, did it look like Andy was carrying a toy gun or a real gun?

Here are witness accounts.

(contemplative ambient music) Three months after Andy was killed, the Santa Rosa Police Department finished its investigation report.

The charge?

Brandishing a firearm replica.

The offender?

Andy Lopez.

The victims?

Michael Schemmel and Erick Gelhaus.

Police did not release the report to the public.

The Santa Rosa Police Department forwarded the report to District Attorney Jill Ravitch.

Her job was to review the report for possible criminal charges against Deputy Gelhaus for shooting Andy.

- Jail Erick Gelhaus for the murder of Andy Lopez!

(protestors chanting) - [Narrator] The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office hired Erick Gelhaus in 1990.

In 2005, he was called up by the National Guard and served in Iraq where he saw combat before returning to duty as a deputy sheriff.

Reporters found that in the years prior to Andy's shooting, while a deputy sheriff, Gelhaus wrote gun-related articles and posted messages on law enforcement forums.

Today is the day you may need to kill someone in order to go home.

If you find yourself in an ambush, in the kill zone, you need to turn on the mean gene.

Law enforcement is a contact sport.

Driver Jeff Westbrook describes what happened after Deputy Gelhaus pulled his car over.

- He started screaming, the gun came out, and it was turn your vehicle off, turn your vehicle off.

- [Narrator] The offense?

- Failure to use turn signal and unsafe lane change.

And he handed me the ticket.

And that's when I said, why for a routine traffic stop would you pull or pull us over and point a gun point blank at me and my passenger for such a simple ticket?

I deliberated with my wife.

She said, you have to report this.

My wife kept saying, he's gonna kill somebody, he's gonna kill somebody.

I didn't do enough.

I done something more, that kid would've been alive.

- Okay.

So, why don't we get started?

- [Narrator] After five months of review, District Attorney Jill Ravitch called a press conference to announce her decision in the shooting of Andy Lopez.

- Here, the implementation of lethal force was a reasonable response under the circumstances according to all of the evidence that we have reviewed.

Therefore, the actions of Deputy Gelhaus were lawful and no criminal charges will be filed against him at this time.

(speaking in foreign language) - [Narrator] In a last ditch effort to seek justice, Andy's family sued Sonoma County and Deputy Gelhaus for the death of their son.

Gelhaus and Sonoma County responded with a motion arguing that the shooting was justified.

The district court judge disagreed and denied the motion, allowing the case to proceed.

Gelhaus and the county appealed.

(gavel banging) - All rise.

- [Narrator] In a rare move, the appeals court judges allowed the hearing to be filmed.

- [Female Speaker] United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is now in session.

- Please be seated.

The district court concluded that there was no threat to Officer Gelhaus.

It's undisputed that, I'll call him Andy, was not committing any crime or attempting to evade arrest.

So under the circumstances, we're only left with one factor to consider, which is whether Andy posed, and in quotes, immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others.

There is no license for police to kill teenagers with three seconds when even that officer says that the gun was not pointing at him.

- [Narrator] The court ruled against Gelhaus and the county.

With this ruling four years after the shooting, the public could at last see that the police version of the shooting had been misleading all along.

Undeterred, Gelhaus and the county made a final appeal to the United States Supreme Court.

The court refused to hear the case, allowing the Lopez family's lawsuit to go to trial.

Facing a public trial that would reveal details of the shooting and a possible high dollar judgment, Gelhaus and the county settled the case for three million dollars.

Although the Lopez case was over, allegations of police brutality continued in Sonoma County where 32 people have died during or after interactions with law enforcement since Andy Lopez was shot and killed.

More than 10 million dollars have been paid in recent years to victims of excessive force in Sonoma County.

- On December, 14th.

- [Narrator] As a direct result of the outcry after the shooting of Andy Lopez, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors established IOLERO, the Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach.

Its mission?

To conduct oversight of the Sheriff's Office.

Jerry Threet was named as director.

- We were looking at some things that involve the sheriff's operations and the primary one was how they conduct their investigations of complaints against deputies.

I had given notice to the sheriff that we'd be coming out with a report.

And the reaction was quite strong from the Sheriff's Office that that should not be happening, that we shouldn't put out that report.

- [Narrator] The Sheriff's Office response?

They noted that IOLERO was advisory only, with no authority, and recommended closing the office.

In August of 2020, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to put an initiative on the November ballot to significantly strengthen oversight of the Sheriff's Office.

Almost immediately.

- I think what has brought us to this point.

- [Narrator] Six days later in this online Board of Supervisors meeting, Sheriff Essick threatened to sue the county and the county board of supervisors to block the oversight initiative.

Essick requested $50,000 to hire outside lawyers for that lawsuit.

- It feels like you've declared war, I'll be frank, Sheriff Essick, on this board.

And what we did is we approved a ballot measure that will establish more oversight of your department.

And it seems that in these times, that that would be welcomed.

So I'm scratching my head as to why that's not welcomed.

- [Narrator] While the public sought greater oversight and reform of the Sheriff's Office, actions by sheriff deputies and correctional deputies continued to show clear evidence of excessive force.

One longstanding jail practice was known as yard counseling.

In 2016, a well-respected forensic psychologist wrote in a report for a lawsuit that the practice was torture.

The next 20 seconds of footage will be hard for many to watch.

(man screaming) - [Male Speaker] Fuck!

I didn't do anything, I swear!

- We call it behavior counseling.

And in essence, it's how we counsel inmates in the jail when their behavior is extreme.

And what we do is we remove them from the environment where the bad behavior's happening, that's their cell or the room they're in, away from the other inmates and talk to them alone privately about our expectations of their behavior.

- I'm not resisting!

I'm not resisting!

Ow, ow!

- [Narrator] And there's this case from 2014, the year after Andy was shot.

- [Announcer] It's hard to watch, maybe even harder to listen.

(man screaming) A man face down on the ground as a taser goes off.

In this 29 minute video at the Sonoma County Jail, sheriff's deputies tased Esa Wroth about 20 times while he was cuffed.

- [Esa] Somebody, help.

Somebody, help me.

- You done yet?

- [Announcer] He says deputies punched him over a dozen times, kicked and kneed him a couple of more times.

They took him to the ER after he blacked out.

- [Narrator] The following eight seconds will be difficult for many viewers to watch.

- Get this arm, I'm going to that side.

Get your hand out where I can see it.

(man groaning) (taser clicking) - [Officer] We need medical, man.

Get medical.

- Some police are gonna step over the line and we know that's gonna happen, it's human.

And when they do so, we need to be able to quantify it.

We need to know how often it happens.

We need to know why it happens so we can train our officers better and so we can hold them accountable if they step over the line, if they abuse their authority.

- And so every time there's a shooting or an abuse, and there's no accountability for that, not only is the abuser emboldened and told that what they're doing is okay, but the cop who's next to them sees the same thing.

And we're gonna find, mark my words, that in a short few years, the police culture that we have now will become more quick to violence.

They will become more militaristic in their approach towards policing.

- I think if the public really knew what was going on, they would have an entirely different view of the system.

They don't know.

I was with the Los Angeles Police Department for 25 years.

I rose through the ranks.

I became a captain, station commander.

And throughout that career, I had firsthand knowledge of these shootings in many different ranks.

What I've learned is is that the system needs to be changed.

It is as if there is a playbook.

Deny police wrongdoing, demonize the victim, conduct biased investigations to support the police, defend and delay victim lawsuits, keep police misconduct secret, settle lawsuits to avoid public trial.

After the lawsuits are settled, keep facts secret, deny systemic racism.

They use this playbook all over the country and it has the same consequences everywhere.

The police in the US shoot more people dead than any other comparable developed country in the world.

And while this is a national problem, it can be solved locally.

Local communities have to ask if this playbook is being used in their jurisdiction.

And if it is, it's gotta stop.

When we see these events, and how they happen, and how they're handled, it tarnishes the majority of police officers who are doing a good job.

In the case of Andy Lopez, his death was unnecessary.

- There's something got us there to where the death of a child is okay.

And when people accept that, what are they gonna accept next?

- George Floyd!

- Say his name!

- George Floyd!

- Say his name!

- George Floyd!

- Say his name!

- [John] I have never seen anything like we're all experiencing following the killing of George Floyd.

I believe we're in a new era.

I believe that we will actually see the kind of change we should have had decades ago.

We'll see it now and we can't go back.

- [Male Speaker] When the American people get around to saying it's no longer okay, police violence is gonna stop.

(somber orchestral music) ♪♪