D.A. finds Newport Beach police shooting justified

Two Newport Beach police officers were justified when they shot and killed a 22-year-old mentally ill man earlier this year, the Orange County district attorney’s office announced Wednesday.

Police shot Gerrit Vos four times — in the shoulder, chest and thigh — the evening of May 29, according to a 12-page letter that outlines an investigation and analysis of the killing.

Officers reasonably opened fire after Vos sprinted toward them while wielding a metal hook, the letter states.

Investigators noted that a security camera recorded Vos yelling for someone to shoot him in the head during the minutes leading to the shooting.

He allegedly shouted, “You want me dead” and “Kill me already, please.”

Vos was a diagnosed schizophrenic who last year entered rehabilitation for heavy drug use, investigators said, adding that he had methamphetamine in his system when he died.

Friends of Vos, a hairdresser from San Clemente, painted a different picture.

They called Vos a gentle person who had recently cleaned up after problems with drugs.

“I could never imagine him being in a situation where he was being aggressive enough to be shot to death,” Christian Kekel, who attended beauty school with Vos, told the Pilot earlier this month.

In November, Vos’ parents accused the police of using “excessive, unwarranted and brutal” force during the standoff.

Officers had ample time to use non-lethal means instead of firearms to subdue their son, they argued in a pair of legal claims seeking $50 million from the city.

Officials denied the claims, but a lawsuit could follow. The law firm representing Vos’ parents did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.

The district attorney’s investigation didn’t consider civil liability but states plainly that there is no criminal culpability on the part of the shooters.

“All available evidence in this case clearly proves that officers [Richard] Henry and [Nathan] Farris acted lawfully and were justified in shooting Vos,” the letter states.

Based on interviews, physical evidence and recordings, the document describes a timeline of events.

A friend of Vos’ in Newport Beach told investigators that Vos visited with him two days before the shooting and appeared to be behaving normally.

But the night of May 29, the friend said, Vos showed up on his doorstep acting paranoid and erratic.

The letter describes him yelling “I’m here” and “Come and get me” to nobody in particular.

Around 8 p.m., the friend told Vos to “leave and clear his head,” and Vos skateboarded to the nearby 7-Eleven at Superior and Placentia avenues, where his paranoia escalated, the letter said.

Investigators wrote that Vos ducked into an aisle, said someone was trying to kill him and then chased a customer out of the store with a screwdriver.

Vos also allegedly cut a store clerk with a pair large pair of scissors while yelling “Shoot me!” and “I know you have a gun.”

When the first police officer arrived at the 7-Eleven, he reportedly saw Vos behind the counter, yelling unintelligibly.

The officer, Dave Kresge, told investigators that Vos reached behind his back for his waistband and began pantomiming that he had a gun.

“Officer Kresge believed Vos was trying to get Officer Kresge to shoot Vos,” the letter states.

Vos then hid in a small room behind the counter while 10 more officers arrived and waited outside the store, some with guns drawn, according to the district attorney’s office.

At about 8:40 p.m., Vos emerged from the room holding a 6-inch metal display hook above his head in a “stabbing position,” one officer told investigators.

He then sprinted toward the officers outside, ignoring an order to drop the hook, according to the report.

“Vos did not say anything as he ran toward officers,” the letter states.

One officer, armed with a less-lethal weapon, fired when Vos was about halfway to the 7-Eleven’s open door, but the large projectile did not stop Vos, the report said.

When Vos was about four feet from the door, officers Henry and Farris opened fire with AR-15 rifles, investigators wrote.

They said Vos was less than 10 feet from them when they shot. Both told investigators that they believed Vos was trying to kill them or their colleagues.

Each fired four shots for a total of eight. Four rounds struck Vos. He died soon after at a nearby hospital, according to an autopsy.

A forensic pathologist found a large, red, circular bruise on Vos’ chest, an injury that would be consistent with a strike from a projectile fired from the less-lethal weapon.

“The facts of this case clearly prove that officers Henry and Farris did not commit a crime,” the letter states. “On the contrary, they were lawfully discharging their duty when they were confronted by an unstable individual who had just attacked innocent civilians and was now attacking the officers while ignoring their lawful commands.”