“This kind of story — “Family Demands Answers” — has become a media cliché in recent years. Anytime someone gets killed by cops, there is automatically the insinuation that the cops did something wrong, and the media promote this narrative…. the call for state involvement was just a way of insinuating that the investigation was crooked. In a GoFundMe appeal, a family friend wrote, “At only 17 years old, Bryan’s life was tragically cut short due to police brutality in Elkhart.” Really? You’re claiming “police brutality”? Superior marksmanship by cops may seem like an unfair advantage to criminals who lose shootouts, but it’s not brutality.”
Never mind. Like an unethical dog with an unethical bone, the news media continued the deliberately biased narrative a month later:
“Last month’s fatal shooting of a teenager by Elkhart police was one of the issues highlighted during Saturday’s No Kings rally. Demonstrators were urged to sign a petition, calling for an independent review of the shooting of 17-year-old Bryan Ramirez Gomez. It also calls for the appointment of a special prosecutor and long-term accountability measures meant to restore trust in the justice system, among other requests.”
A “No Kings Rally.” Of course! I am officially embarrassed for my many friends who have attended these things. What is the matter with all of you? Bella Chavez’s speech at this “No Kings” rally was widely quoted: “We’re calling for justice in Elkhart. Justice for Bryan!”
Pssst! Bryan got justice. Boy, did he ever.
Early last month, the county prosecutor announced the result of her investigation:
“Shortly after 1:30 a.m. on February 8, 2026, Elkhart Police Department Officer Ragsdale was driving past the area of High Dive Park pavilion and noticed a vehicle that was running while sitting stationary in the parking lot after the park was closed. . . .Officer Ragsdale pulled into the lot near the suspicious vehicle and observed several individuals inside, some appearing to be minors. Officer Ragsdale called for backup. While Officer Ragsdale was speaking to the driver, he noticed a scent he recognized as an alcoholic beverage prompting further investigation pursuant to Indiana law. EPD Officer Breneman arrived to provide back-up while Officer Ragsdale continued his work. Officer Ragsdale attempted to gather identifying information from each occupant of the vehicle, being led to believe that there were two individuals that were eighteen (18) and three individuals claiming to be juveniles, two males and one female. Officer Ragsdale then returned to his vehicle to determine whether there were any law enforcement notifications relating to any of the occupants.
“Although Officer Ragsdale did not know it at the time, the front seat passenger provided false information regarding his name during the investigation and was on probation after having being adjudicated Delinquent for both felony and misdemeanor offenses in Elkhart County Juvenile Court, the nature of which included Auto Theft, Resisting Law Enforcement, Dangerous Possession of a Firearm, and Disorderly Conduct . . .
“Upon removing the occupants of the vehicle, one by one to ensure safety and control, the eighteen (18) year old driver did not have any identification on him and advised “not right now” when asked if he had any weapons. As Officer Ragsdale continued to remove the backseat passengers from the driver’s side of the vehicle, the front seat passenger, who had previously been complying with officer directives to keep hands visible, was also directed to stay in the car, but reached down between his legs and refused to put his hand up when ordered.
The front passenger then abruptly turned, got out of the car on the passenger’s side, and fired a handgun toward Officer Breneman. Both Officer Ragsdale and Officer Breneman fired their respective handguns in response. The front passenger was fatally shot during this event. A Glock 9mm handgun was on the ground near him. . . .During the crime scene investigation in which crime scene specialists documented and recovered evidence related to the event, another handgun was found on the front passenger floorboard of the subject vehicle that had been modified to be fully automatic by what is known as a “switch”. A “switch” is an after-market attachment that converts a semi-automatic handgun to a fully automatic handgun which is illegal to possess pursuant to both State and Federal law.”
As you can no doubt surmise, the front seat passenger in the process of violating his probation was that bright, sterling member of the community, Bryan Gomez. He decided that the only way to avoid arrest was to kill two police officers. He took one shot at them, and in the next three seconds, Officer Breneman fired five shots while falling backwards, and Officer Ragsdale fired five shots as well. Gomez was hit three times, and killed. Good. Despite their proximity to the shoot-out, nor the other passengers was wounded.
The shooting was completely legal and justified, there was no police brutality or racism, and the victim was 100% at fault. I’m sure the family doesn’t like these “answers,” but they should not be let off the metaphorical ethics hook and neither should the disgusting, divisive, anti-law enforcement news media that pushed an ant-police narrative before the facts were settled. The family had to know about Bright Kid Bryan’s criminal record and probation status, and yet they omitted that critical information in their various orations and innuendos. The news media was also obligated to check the shooting victim’s record before it represented the incident as Mike Brown, Part Deaux.
Chicago White Sox jerseys are popular with certain gangs affiliated with the Crips, by the way. I’m sure it’s a coincidence, as his family would be sure to tell you.
Ethics Alarms 
His being decked out in a black ChiSox jersey immediately screamed gang banger to me as well.
And wait. He’s not African American, he’s Hispanic! Although he was Italian, wasn’t Christopher Columbus bankrolled by the Spanish monarchy? Aren’t Spaniards the colonizers of all colonizers? Can I get a program to figure out who’s who? Wasn’t this kid the descendant of settler colonialists who enslaved all kinds of people, including Ben Crump’s forefathers? Shouldn’t his shooting be praised as righteous retribution?
Their ancestors were colonized by the Romans.
And then the Muslims showed up. It’s all Mediterranean stew. My Cuban buddy says Hispanics are mostly middle eastern. Saddam Hussein and Moamar Ghadaffi look just like Fidel Castro or Chavez or Maduro. Or Stalin, for that matter. Cut from the same cloth. Strongmen dominating and abusing a quiescent population.
Or Mamdani, come to think of it! And then there’s Justin Trudeau!
Let’s go sneak up on good ole unsuspecting Justin and snatch some hair sample to do a DNA test. Then we could get Trump to snatch the Castro Bro and compare the genetic results. The WuhanLab conspiracy has been put to rest. This might put to rest one one more. But, long live the JFK and moonlanding conspiracies!
Covid didn’t come from the Wuhan lab?
And what’s your point, exactly? Michael and I were just batting some stuff around.
As a resident of the area for decades, I can add a political aspect to the investigation findings and consequent chastisement of the media. Elkhart is primarily a Republican city as is Elkhart County. Thus the no nonsense response to media coverage of this justified use of deadly force by law enforcement.
What happened to South Bend that Pete Butegige could be elected mayor? ND faculty? The Romers seemed to run the local machine when we were there. Maybe they were Democrats. I forget.
YB, the Democrat party has controlled South Bend politics since the late 1960s. Last Republican mayor was Lloyd Allen whose term ended in 1971, I believe.
Pete was a neighbor of ours in the North Shore Triangle neighborhood. He was infamous locally for his smart sewers project which failed and flooded our neighborhood with sewage into an actual FEMA site in 2018. When neighbors were meeting to try to address the issue at a private home, Pete showed up with his staff while also inviting the local media.
At that point his tone deafness, understated arrogance and poor relationships in the black community would be his undoing. So, not really President Biden then hired him to screw up at a macro level.
Trying to unseat a Dem in South Bend is akin to unseating the Pope.
Ah. So, the Romers were Dems. I clerked the summer of 1979 in the South Bend City Attorney’s office with three other ND law students. The city attorney was Tom Bruner. A Democrat. Nice guy. Peter Nemeth was mayor. And of course, Hesburgh was the Kennedys’ personal family priest, although Ronald Reagan was the commencement speaker at the 1981 commencement.
I still can’t believe ND has gone so far to the dark side.
It appears that Go-Fund-Me has taken the uncertainty out of what some of us know as the “Ghetto Lottery”. Back in olden times, the decedent’s family had to invest time and effort into brow-beating the local political establishment into submission in the form of an out-of-court settlement. That could take months, even years. Now just the mere call for “another investigation” gets the Benjamins flowing.
Thankfully, it seems in this case, since it’s the result of criminal activity (pretty well established by now released police videos showing Gomez initiating the gunfight), family is limited to memorial or funeral expenses through GFM, so no huge payout. They’re asking for $25K.
“Bryan was a bright kid, he was a member of this community, this is where he grew up,” Ramirez-Gomez said.
A feeble comment to be sure, and a tell – even his family can’t extoll his virtues. He’s not a straight-A student, captain of the football team, big brother to a fatherless child. He doesn’t distribute care packages to the homeless, or drive old people to their appointments in his free time ….. nope, he’s a member of the community.