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David Lopez

Age : 40

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 09/08/2021

Location : U.S. Post Office, Fourth Street and Eigleberry Street

City : Gilroy

County : Santa Clara

State : California

Agency : Gilroy Police Department

Officer(s) :Catalina Fraide

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police during attempted surrender

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 09/08/2021, Gilroy Police Department Officer Catalina Fraide shot and killed 40-year-old David Lopez outside the U.S. Post Office at Fourth and Eigleberry streets. Initial news reports described police responding at approximately 2:30 a.m. to an intoxicated man, but the later Santa Clara County District Attorney investigation established a substantially more detailed sequence: Lopez was wanted for an attempted murder committed one week earlier and had contacted police under the pretense that he wanted to surrender.
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According to the DA's investigation, Lopez had been identified as the person who allegedly shot another man during an August 31, 2021 confrontation. Police had obtained a warrant for his arrest for attempted murder. Lopez subsequently contacted Gilroy police and arranged to meet an officer at the post office, purportedly to surrender.
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Officer Catalina Fraide drove to the post office to meet Lopez. According to the DA's reconstruction, as Fraide pulled her patrol vehicle into the location, Lopez fired two shots toward her. Both missed Fraide, but investigators found that one bullet struck and lodged in the passenger-side window frame of her patrol vehicle.
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Fraide exited her patrol vehicle and returned fire. Lopez's first handgun then malfunctioned. Investigators concluded that Lopez discarded that weapon and retrieved a second handgun. He moved behind a large concrete pillar and allegedly attempted to fire the second gun toward Fraide, but it did not discharge because it was unloaded.
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According to the DA, Lopez then retreated behind the pillar and appeared to Fraide to be attempting to reload the second firearm. Fraide fired again, striking Lopez once in the head. Police provided medical aid and Lopez was transported to a trauma center, where he died.
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Contemporaneous security footage from the surrounding area captured the sound of multiple gunshots. Early reporting described six gunshots audible within approximately one minute. Gilroy police later released video of the encounter in October 2021; the footage showed Lopez firing toward Fraide's arriving patrol vehicle and Fraide returning fire.
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The shooting was investigated by the Gilroy Police Department Investigations Bureau and Internal Affairs and separately reviewed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. The DA ultimately concluded that Fraide reasonably believed Lopez presented an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury and that her use of deadly force was lawful. Fraide was not criminally charged.
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The later DA investigation materially changes the original public description of the encounter. What was initially reported as officers responding to an intoxicated man was actually a prearranged meeting with a man wanted for attempted murder who had represented that he intended to surrender. The DA concluded instead that Lopez used the arranged surrender to draw an officer to the post office and then fired at her as she arrived.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Catalina Fraide was the Gilroy police officer who shot and killed David Lopez. The initial September 2021 reporting did not identify her, but the subsequent Santa Clara County District Attorney investigation publicly identified Fraide and reconstructed her actions from physical evidence, firearms evidence, video and other investigative material.
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Fraide fired the only police gunfire identified in the DA's final account. Investigators determined that Lopez possessed two firearms during the confrontation; his first weapon fired and subsequently malfunctioned, while the second was unloaded and did not fire. The DA concluded that Fraide's fatal shot was legally justified based on what she perceived as Lopez attempting to reload after already firing toward her.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/09/09/gilroy-police-shoot-kill-man-after-officer-involved-shooting/
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/south-bay/man-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting-in-gilroy/2658266/
https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/man-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting-in-gilroy/
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/gilroy-police-fatal-officer-involved-shooting/
https://gilroydispatch.com/gilroy-police-investigate-officer-involved-shooting/
https://kioncentralcoast.com/news/top-stories/2021/09/08/gilroy-police-investigating-officer-involved-shooting/
https://da.santaclaracounty.gov/news/officer-incident-report/fatal-shooting-david-lopez