Salinas police say man involved in officer-involved shooting spoke Spanish

SALINAS, Calif. (KION)

UPDATE 7/29/2021 6:20 p.m. Salinas police are responding to what they are referring to as "misconceptions" from the public regarding a deadly officer involved shooting in East Salinas two weeks ago.

Police are hoping to paint a stronger picture of why officers opened fire on a 19-year-old who they feared had a dangerous weapon.

The misconceptions, according to Acting Salinas Police Chief Roberto Felice, have to do with the suspect's age, whether or not he was armed and if he actually understood police commands to surrender during the standoff.

"I support my officer a hundred percent in what he did," said Felice. "I believe that he followed protocol, he followed everything that he was trained to do to stay safe, to keep the community safe."

Felice had a clear message for the public: they had no other choice.

"We responded to the fact that somebody pointed a gun at one of my officers," said Felice.

Felice tells KION police officers showed enormous restraint during the July 16th standoff at a Smith Street residence in East Salinas. He points to an earlier moment in the drone footage where 19-year-old Gerardo Martinez came out and briefly raised what we now know is a BB gun at an officer, but the officer did not initially open fire.

"The last time, when he did (open fire), it was obvious that (Martinez) was about to shoot toward the officer. The officer could not know from that position whether it was a BB gun or not," said Felice.

The Mexican consulate in San Jose has been in contact with Martinez's family. They are helping them with the burial now.

"We gave some money for the process and also giving the different documents that they need to send the body back to Mexico," said Mexico Consul General Alejandra Bologna.

Felice wanted to clear up what he refers to as "misconceptions" about the shooting. One of them is that Martinez did not speak Spanish, so he was not understanding officer commands to surrender.

Felice tells KION they have footage of another February incident involving Martinez that shows him speaking fluent Spanish. But Felice says all this is a moot point.

"I was born and raised in Italy, and I was lucky enough to travel to many places in the world," he said. "I don't know one place in the world where if you point a gun at a police officer, the response is not going to be that you're probably be fired at by the police."

"Sure, they may have different protocols they may follow, but the language becomes irrelevant when you point a gun at a police officer," said Felice.

KION was not able to obtain the footage from the February incident or the bodycam footage of the OIS. They both have been turned over to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office for investigation.

PREVIOUS STORY: A 19-year-old Salinas resident was killed during a police shooting on Smith Street earlier this month, and now police claim that the man understood what officers were saying to him during the interaction.

On July 16, officers were called to the area when a person reported that a neighbor pointed what appeared to be a handgun or BB gun at them, and when police responded, Gerardo Martinez was seen on footage entering and exiting the side door of his home.

Police said officers told him in Spanish to come out with his hands up, but at one point, he got what appeared to be a gun from inside the home and could be seen in drone video pointing it at an officer. The officer fired his gun, and at least one round hit Martinez in the torso. He died of his injuries. When officers entered the home, they said they found a real-looking black BB gun next to Martinez.

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Family members said Martinez could not understand police commands because he spoke an indigenous dialect called Zapotec, but during a Police Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday evening, Acting Chief of Police Roberto Filice denied that claim.

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Filice said that officers handled a separate incident involving Martinez in February 2021, and he said they have video of Martinez speaking fluent Spanish to officers.

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According to Filice, Martinez knew what he was told to do and chose different actions.

The officer involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave as the DA's Office continues its investigation into the shooting.

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KION has reached out to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office to request the video and is waiting for a reply.