Several Hemet residents called for reforms in the Hemet Police Department after officers last month fatally shot a 26-year-old city resident and father of two.
Following the fatal police shooting of Jimmy Lopez on July 4, family, friends and community members spoke to the Hemet City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 13, to call for justice for Lopez. Police have said they received a call that Lopez had a gun in his pants, but it turned out to be an airsoft pistol.
RELATED: Bodycam video released in fatal police shooting of Hemet man armed with airsoft pistol
About 10 people spoke about Lopez’s death at the meeting, with more supporters in the audience. One attendee held a sign that said: “Hemet PD killed our daddy!” The sign included a photo of Lopez and his children. Others wore T-shirts that read “Justice for Jimmy,” “Jimmy’s life matters” and shirts that included photos of Lopez.
Council members said at the meeting that they could not respond to speakers addressing an issue that was not on their agenda. Because Lopez’s death was not agendized, they did not respond to comments about the shooting.
Hemet City Manager Mark Prestwich, Mayor Joe Males and City Clerk John Paul Maier could not be reached for comment Wednesday, Aug. 14. City spokesperson Alan Reyes did not comment, but shared a July news release from police.
“As a mother, it hurts to find out the police shot my child because they’re the ones that are supposed to protect and serve somebody,” said Mandy Diaz, Lopez’s mother and a Hemet resident.
“It should have been handled a different way,” Diaz added.
Hemet police said in a July 26 news release sent by Reyes that officers responded to a call from a bar in downtown Hemet about 1:40 a.m. on the holiday.
The caller told police dispatch that an intoxicated man walked out of the bar with a gun in his pants, according to the release.
“The subject involved in this incident was armed with what, from all appearances, was a gun,” the release states. “Only upon analysis by investigating authorities after the incident, was it determined that the gun was an airsoft pistol, not technically a firearm.”
The officers had no way of knowing Lopez did not have a gun, the release states, adding that allegations Lopez was unarmed are false. Photos show Lopez aiming the airsoft pistol at officers, police said.
The shooting came after a “confrontation” and Lopez was pronounced dead at the site, the release states. Earlier this month, Hemet police released body camera footage that shows the shooting.
Members of the League of United Latin American Citizens de Inland Empire said they would submit a complaint to the Hemet Police Department about what it called “excessive use of force.”
“This complaint will address a disturbing and persistent pattern of misconduct that has left our Latino community feeling unsafe, unheard and unprotected,” said Anthony Noriega, director of the group’s District Five. “We fear that one of us — a daughter, a son, or a friend — will be the next victim. Our community cannot live in fear, waiting for one of us to be killed.”
The complaint will allege that Hemet police’s excessive force disproportionately affects Black and Latino residents, Noriega said.
Noriega said he’d file the complaint in the next three weeks and hopes to fix the issue at the community level.
Ann Jeanette Durocher, a San Jacinto Valley resident who is Lopez’s godmother, said his death has sparked widespread outrage.
Related links
Bodycam video released in fatal police shooting of Hemet man armed with airsoft pistol
State DOJ to review July 4 death of man shot by Hemet police
Hemet police shoot and kill man who allegedly had gun
“While I cannot hold Mayor Joe Males personally responsible for individual officers’ actions, I do hold you accountable for employing these violent officers,” Durocher said. “As a taxpayer and community member, I expect you to oversee these situations and implement swift changes to the Hemet Police Department before another person is harmed or, like Jimmy, killed within seconds of contact.”
Transparency, reform and oversight to rebuild the fractured relationship between law enforcement and the community is needed, Durocher said.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office Force Investigation Detail and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office were contacted by the city to investigate the shooting. Once the investigation is completed, it will be turned over to the California Department of Justice‘s Special Prosecutions Section within its Criminal Law Division for an independent review.
Last month, attorneys representing Lopez’s family said the officers who shot him should be prosecuted and said the family would file a lawsuit.
