Grand Jury indicts EPPD officer accused of shooting burglary suspect in the back

An El Paso police officer has been indicted for manslaughter after an on-duty shooting that happened two years ago.

Mando Kenneth Gomez was a 10-year veteran with EPPD when he allegedly shot and killed Erik Emmanuel Salas Sanchez.

ABC-7 obtained court documents that state Gomez recklessly caused the death Salas Sanchez by shooting him in the back with a firearm.

Gomez was indicted on Feb. 28 this year.

An EPPD spokesman confirmed that Gomez is still on the force and has been on administrative duty since the shooting.

The shooting happened back in April of 2015.

Police were called out to a home in the 300 block of Jesuit in the Lower Valley for a burglary.

Officers said they believed Salas Sanchez was the suspect of the burglary, and attempted to talk to him.

Sanchez then allegedly armed himself with a metal object and threatened to kill the officers, according to police.

An officer used a Taser on Sanchez to control him but it was not effective.

Sanchez, still armed, charged at the officers. That’s when Gomez allegedly fired his weapon at Sanchez.

He was transported to Del Sol Medical Center where he died from his injuries.