MDSO releases fatal shooting footage of woman with knife during apparent crisis
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office released body camera footage showing a deputy fatally shooting a woman who approached officers while holding a knife during an apparent mental health crisis on Feb. 7.
Karen Gomez’s daughter called 911 to report that Gomez was possibly harming herself with a knife around 4 p.m. at a home on the 18900 Block of NW 55th Avenue, the critical incident video shows.
“Okay,” dispatch said during the 911 call. “Now tell me exactly what happened.”
The girl responded through cries that her mom was locked inside a bathroom.
“I don’t know what she’s doing, but she’s whimpering and I think she’s hurting herself,” the daughter said. “...She says she eff’d up her leg, and I’m so scared, and I need help.”
MDSO deputies arrived and found Gomez still locked in the bathroom, the video shows. They told Gomez they would break down the door if she didn’t open it, but she refused.
Gomez can be heard screaming “break it down,” I cut myself,” and “I can’t anymore,” the footage shows.
For several minutes, deputies tried to convince her in both English and Spanish to leave the bathroom to receive help. One deputy eventually kicked the door open, another armed themselves with a taser. There were at least five deputies inside the bedroom and hallway near the bathroom, the footage shows.
Gomez walked out with a knife raised above her head pointed toward deputies, the footage shows. It appears the bathroom floor was covered in blood. She had cut both of her wrists, according to MDSO.
Deputies were shouting for her to drop the knife. One deputy discharged her taser while another deputy simultaneously fired his gun twice, striking Gomez. Neither of the deputies were identified by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Gomez, 52, was taken to a local hospital, where she died.
The incident is being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, as is standard procedure in police shootings. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said in a statement “releasing this footage ensures everyone sees the sequence of events as they unfolded.”
“We recognize that incidents of this nature raise questions and concerns within our community, and I believe the public has the right to see critical incidents involving law enforcement,” Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said in the statement.
Cordero-Stutz previously told Miami Herald news partner CBS News Miami that Gomez was in crisis, and this was a very difficult situation to begin with. MDSO has a crisis response unit, which provides special assistance to people experiencing a mental health crisis.
“In this case, they were not involved,” Cordero-Stutz told CBS News Miami. “They were not assigned to the area at this time.”
