Off-Duty Officer Who Shot Man Has Received Commendations, Suspensions During Career

The off-duty El Paso Police officer who shot and paralyzed a man on April 1 has received several commendations and also has been suspended during his career with the department.

The ABC-7 I-team has learned police officer Jorge Gonzalez–who pulled the trigger– has also been ordered to take anger management classes as part of one of his suspensions.

Police say Jorge Gonzalez shot 20-year-old Andy Cortez to protect another off-duty officer, Michelle Gonzalez.

After Cortez rear-ended Gonzalez’s SUV, Cortez allegedly ignored an order to stop and tried to drive away.

In 2007, records show Jorge Gonzalez “manhandled” a teenager and “threw” him on the hood of the patrol car.

Records state that a video shows Jorge Gonzalez “…grabbing the complaintant by the back of his neck as you pulled up his left arm up over his head.”

In 2008, he asked a teenager wearing a blue shirt and a blue “do-rag” if he was a gang member.

Officer Jorge Gonzalez admitted he told the teen quote, “Don’t take this the wrong way this is not what it sounds like , but if people were to see you walking down the street dressed in blue, and not that it matters, and you’re black what are they going to think?”

The teen answered he didn’t know.

And he replied, “That you’re a CRIP.”

A year later in 2009, Jorge Gonzalez tried to arrest a man who told him during a traffic stop that he was speeding because an alarm went off at his business.

According to the report, video evidence showed Gonzalez violated police procedure and called for back up only after realizing the man was already on the phone with police.

Jorge Gonzalez is on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation into the shooting.

Meanwhile, Michelle Gonzalez, who has returned to duty.

In her eight year career, Michelle Gonzalez has received two written reprimands.

In 2003, she received one for failure to secure a prisoner and in 2006 she received another for crashing her patrol car into a rock wall.

The reprimand from then Police Chief Richard Wiles states:

“We expect you to exercise more caution when operating a city vehicle.”

In performance evaluations, both officers received high marks throughout the years.

Jorge Gonzalez has 15 division commendations.

They described him as using good judgment, including an incident where he shot a “vicious dog” that attacked three people.

Michelle Gonzalez has two letters of commendation and was recognized for recovering property that was stolen in a burglary.