Andy Lopez Remembered on Seventh Anniversary of Shooting
Seven years ago today, on October 22nd 2013, Andy Lopez was shot and killed along Moorland Avenue in Santa Rosa by Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputy Erick Gelhaus.
The circumstances of the shooting, in which the deputy claimed he mistook Lopez’s Airsoft rifle for a real weapon, have been widely reported. The shooting prompted days of protests in Santa Rosa, and calls for justice and law enforcement reform not only in Sonoma County but across California and the nation.
Each year since, Andy’s friends and members of the community have marked the day by constructing a memorial in honor of the young man who would have been 20 years old this year.
The vacant lot where Andy was killed is now Andy’s Unity Park, a gathering place and place of memorial for the community.
No charges were ever filed against Deputy Gellhaus, but in 2018 Andy’s family reached a $3 million settlement in a civil lawsuit related to the shooting.
Author: newsofthenorthbay
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