Paramedics describe scene at home where EPPD officer shot, killed man
The prosecution in the trial of El Paso Police officer Mando Kenneth Gomez, accused of shooting and killing a man during a robbery investigation, cross-examined paramedics and a crime scene investigator Thursday.
Gomez faces a manslaughter charge after Erik Salas Sanchez was shot and killed in his Lower Valley home in April 2015. Police said Salas Sanchez attacked officers.
Three El Paso Fire Department paramedics testified, describing how they were called out ot the scene the evening of April 29, 2015. They each described seeing an officer at the door of the house. The paramedics all said they walked in to the home, one-by-one, and saw the victim’s body lying face down in the living room area, handcuffed.
The paramedics all said they saw bullet entry wounds on the victim’s back. They then had him un-cuffed and turned his body onto its back. The paramedics searched for a pulse but there was none. They began to perform CPR, moving the victim onto a solid board and later getting him on the ambulance. The CPR efforts continued in the ambulance until they reached a hospital where Salas was pronounced dead.
Prosecutors later called a crime scene investigator as a witness, both the state and prosecution walking the investigator through evidence found and flagged at the scene, including bullet casings and taser prongs.
A couple of bullets were found lodged in the home’s hallway walls, which the investigator said could have been fired from the living room couch area, something that coincides with Salas’ sister’s testimony where she saw Gomez sit on the couch after shots were fired. She saw him fire once he sat.
