Psychologist: Dear Sacramento Sheriff’s Office, please stop killing my patients
The Sacramento Sheriff’s Office must be held accountable for its failure to utilize our county’s behavioral health crisis response system. On the same day the Sacramento chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) held its kickoff lunch, Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies fatally shot and killed Christopher Gilmore, a man experiencing a mental health crisis. Gilmore had been suicidal and was cutting himself when his sister called 911 for paramedics and fire personnel to respond to him. Instead, four County Sheriff's deputies arrived and shot him multiple times with "less lethal shotgun rounds" before he fell after being shot with rubber bullets. Despite Gilmore's history of mental health issues, he was killed despite holding a weapon less than two inches long and not harming anyone but himself. The sheriff's office has been criticized for not using the county's behavioral health crisis response system.
Published : 4 weeks ago by in Health
On the same day the Sacramento chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) held its kickoff lunch to celebrate its upcoming annual fundraiser, Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a man experiencing a mental health crisis. The fatal encounter between Christopher Gilmore, 36, and a Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputy occurred in Rio Linda on March 23.
Gilmore had been suicidal and was cutting himself in the bathroom of his place of residence when his sister called 911 to request paramedics and fire personnel to respond to her brother. Instead of the emergency responders requested arriving to the scene, four County Sheriff’s deputies arrived instead. Gilmore exited the garage, still holding the small blade he had used to cut himself, when he was shot multiple times with “less lethal shotgun rounds.”
According to media reports, Gilmore began to fall after being shot with rubber bullets.
“Then they shot him with a real gun after he was falling already and they killed him,” said the victim’s sister, Bobbie Gilmore.
Gilmore was killed despite his known history of mental health issues, despite him holding a weapon less than two inches long, despite not hurting anyone but himself and despite having loved ones who specifically called for non-law enforcement emergency responders.
Why did sheriff’s deputies respond instead of the Sacramento County Community Wellness Response Team, a team consisting of a mental clinician and a peer support specialist that responds to behavioral health crises and is in operation 24/7/365? Why did sheriff deputies kill Gilmore despite being equipped with a taser, pepper spray, handcuffs and 24 hours of crisis intervention training and additional time spent on situation simulation training?
Sheriff deputies resorted to using deadly force on a bloodied, naked, anguished man, killing yet another Sacramento County resident who was experiencing a mental health crisis.
This tragic and egregious situation is all too familiar. Jaime Naranjo, 54, was shot and killed by a Sacramento Sheriff’s deputy in 2022 after his wife called the Sheriff’s Office asking for help for her husband who was experiencing a mental health crisis. That deputy had been on the scene for only 23 seconds before opening fire on Naranjo in front of his wife, in his front yard.
A person with untreated mental illness is 16 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement than other civilians during an encounter. Reducing encounters between law enforcement and individuals experiencing a mental health crisis remains the single most immediate and practical strategy for reducing fatal police shootings.
Cooperation from law enforcement dispatch in all jurisdictions county-wide must be ensured for proper utilization of the Community Wellness Response Team, which can be accessed directly by calling (916) 999-HOPE — (916) 999-4673 — so that no one else is murdered for having a mental health crisis.
It is unacceptable to allow these fatal outcomes to continue.
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors have the power to do much more than performative actions like wearing a green ribbon during mental health awareness month or attending a kickoff lunch for NAMI Sacramento. I implore them to hold the Sacramento Sheriff’s office accountable for this failure to utilize our county’s behavioral health crisis response system.
Christopher Gilmore deserved better. His sister deserves better. His loved ones deserve better. The community members in the neighborhood in which he was murdered by law enforcement deserve better.
Topics: Law Enforcement