Fairfax County police release video of deputy-involved shooting of man outside hospital

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Days after a sheriff's deputy in Fairfax County was cleared of any wrongdoing after using deadly force to stop a man who charged at him with a weapon outside of a hospital, police have released video of the incident.

The incident all started when Yovani Amaya Gomez was brought to Inova Fairfax Hospital on August 15 by a police officer who thought he was suffering from a physical or mental issue. He was checked out at the hospital and later released. Gomez then went to a nearby bus stop.

In the video released by Fairfax County police, two security guards approach Gomez, who is holding a metal sign post at the bus stop. Gomez would attack one of the security guards with the sign, hitting him in the neck and head area. Gomez is then seen chasing after the guards. Several other security guards would arrive to the area to try to contain Gomez.

Police said the Fairfax County sheriff's deputy would later arrive at the scene where Gomez would charge at the deputy and swing his weapon at him. With his service weapon out, the deputy would back up and shoot Gomez.

Police said first aid was performed on Gomez at the scene, but he would be pronounced dead at the hospital.

Fairfax County Police Chief Ed Roessler said the shooting by the deputy was justified.

"You can see that [the metal post] is bladed," said Roessler. "It already injured the security guard and that can be a deadly weapon. You could kill someone with that, and obviously when you see the video, it is a split second that Mr. Gomez closes in on a deputy and that is what we do every day in law enforcement and it is very unfortunate. There was no time for the deputy to do anything but protect himself and the community members that were present."

The Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney conducted an investigation on the deputy-involved shooting and found it to be justifiable homicide.

According to the commonwealth attorney's report, a number of tests were performed on Gomez at the hospital and the doctor said Gomez's behavior was normal before they released him.