By David M. Greenwald
Executive Editor
Sacramento, CA – A naked, bleeding, man—Christopher Gilmore—in the throes of a mental health crisis posed no threat to Sacramento Sheriff’s Office deputies when he was shot dead in his driveway last March, according to a civil rights lawsuit filed Tuesday.
“When you look at the available video here, and fortunately the family had a surveillance video that captured this incident, Christopher (Gilmore) was just no imminent threat to any of these officers,” attorney James DeSimone told the Vanguard by phone on Thursday.
Home security video shows the fatal shooting of Gilmore the morning of March 23, 2024, a release stated.
Gilmore, 38, had been cutting himself, and emerged from his garage holding the small blade he’d used. According to his family’s attorneys, Gilmore held it by his waist and never pointed or waved it at deputies, and he never approached them, even after he was shot six times by a deputy with “less lethal” projectiles at close range.
The video shows that Gilmore turned his back to the projectiles and stumbled down the 
driveway, staying alongside a parked pickup truck, in an effort to avoid being hit, according to the lawsuit.
DeSimone said, “He hadn’t given any indication that he was going to harm anybody except maybe himself. And that’s where California law has really changed under Penal Code 835a. And it makes it explicit that a person being a danger to themselves is no reason to use deadly force.”
DeSimone added that the incident once again highlights just how often force is used with respect to mentally ill individuals.
His sister, Bobbie Gilmore, was calling to him from across the street and believes he was trying to get to her for help.
Instead, attorneys argue, a deputy fired three live rounds at Gilmore, who collapsed and rolled into the street. Deputies did not approach the mortally wounded man to render aid, even though the small blade had landed several feet away in the street.
An ambulance arrived about two minutes later and Gilmore was pronounced dead.
“The tragic and unnecessary killing of Christopher Gilmore is a stark reminder of the need for comprehensive police reform and better mental health crisis intervention,” said Los Angeles civil rights attorney V. James DeSimone, who is representing some of Gilmore’s family, including two of his four children and his sister Bobbie Gilmore.
He added, “Christopher posed no threat to the deputies, and yet, he was met with lethal force instead of the help he desperately needed.”
This is another case, his attorney said, that illustrates how these cases would be better handled by mental health professionals rather than an armed law enforcement officer.
“We spoke in Sacramento, I was there in front of the Board of Supervisors with some groups,” he explained. “We’re calling for mental health units to be available 24/7. Mental health crises don’t just occur nine to five.”
In fact, data shows, more often than not, it occurs in the wee hours of the morning.
“They’re supposed to have mental health units available in these situations,” he said.
DeSimone told the Vanguard, “These officers didn’t give themselves sufficient covers, sufficient distance, (they were) just pummeling him. Everything he did was wrong, just pummeling him with less lethal weapons as soon as he walks out, just because he has a knife in his hand when he’s no threat.”
There was a period of time when Gilmore is standing in the garage, and the police are coaxing him to come out.
“As soon as he comes out they start shooting him,” DeSimone said.
“Christopher was a good soul who loved his family,” he said. Gilmore did have stints where he was incarcerated but was working to get his life back in order. “He had a good relationship with his children. This loss has touched a lot of families. He has four children.”
He added, “When the police take a life in this way, they do it in a matter of seconds. And the impact on generations is a lifetime. And Christopher gave a lot to his family, and they’ll be deprived of that for the rest of their lives.”
DeSimone, of V. James DeSimone Law, and Sacramento litigator Daniel Del Rio, of Del Rio & Caraway, filed the lawsuit Tuesday, July 16, in Sacramento County Superior Court against Sacramento County and several unnamed deputies.
