Police release debrief video following fatal shooting of man brandishing knife

Palm Springs police released body-worn camera and drone footage Wednesday of the May 28 officer-involved shooting that killed a man armed with a knife, identifying him publicly for the first time as Gilberto Flores of Desert Hot Springs.

In an introduction to the footage posted on YouTube, Police Chief Andy Mills said officers trained extensively to de-escalate such situations and used “time, talk and tactics” to try to resolve the encounter peacefully, but that Flores did not allow that outcome.

“Unfortunately, it’s not always possible,” Mills said. “We want our officers to be safe. We want our community to be safe. However, sometimes people just don’t allow that to take place.”

Mills said officers used lethal force only after Flores put one of them in immediate jeopardy of being stabbed. The video shows officers negotiating extensively with Flores before he runs toward and lunges at several of them.

“It’s important for our officers to go home every night at the end of their watch to their families,” Mills said. “Unfortunately, sometimes people won’t allow us to make any other decision. But you judge for yourself.”

The video explains that the department’s communication center received a 911 call around 3:40 p.m. reporting a man with a large knife in the 1200 block of East Palm Canyon. A drone from the department’s Real Time Intelligence Center arrived at 3:45 p.m. and located Flores on a second-story balcony, where he paced back and forth holding the knife and moved in and out of a room.

Multiple officers arrived within minutes. Over the next 40 minutes, a trained crisis negotiator and a clinical behavioral therapist attempted to communicate with Flores in English and Spanish, urging him to drop the knife.

Flores then came down the stairs toward officers while still holding the knife. Officers repositioned to create distance before he moved toward the passenger’s side door of a patrol car, still refusing to drop the weapon.

Officers deployed two taser devices and a less-lethal 40-millimeter sponge round in an attempt to disarm him. When those measures did not work, Flores raised the knife and charged toward multiple officers. Three officers fired their handguns, striking him.

Fire department and EMS personnel staged at the scene provided medical care, and Flores was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Capt. Gustavo Araiza said the criminal investigation into the shooting is being conducted by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office Force Investigation Division, with findings to go to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether officers’ actions were consistent with the law.

The Palm Springs Police Department is separately conducting an administrative review to determine whether personnel acted in accordance with department policy and training.

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