Elkhart officials urge patience as investigation continues into officer involved shooting of teen

ELKHART, Ind. — Gut wrenching video taken by one of the teenagers in a car shows the moments after his friend was shot and killed by Elkhart police Sunday.

17-year-old Bryan Ramirez Gomez, an Elkhart High School senior, died after two officers opened fire early Sunday morning in the parking lot of High Dive Pavilion.

The cell phone video circulating social media captures the teens yelling, “Get out. Get out. Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him. Hey, Bryan, you good? He’s good. He’s good. Please don’t kill him. Please.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Elkhart Police Chief Dan Milanese and Mayor Rod Roberson spoke publicly about Ramirez Gomez’s death for the first time but could not provide new information about what happened leading up to the officers opened fire.

Mayor Rod Roberson and Milanese would not answer case specific questions during the press conference.

They called for public unity and patience as the investigation continues before all the evidence can be presented to the public.

“We’re continuing to work with the prosecutor’s office and the homicide department to get all bits necessary so we can get through this through Bryan’s death as well as all the other investigations and that’s for everybody including police officers as well,” Roberson said. “We wanna make sure we do this the right way.”

Officials discouraged the spread of premature information, including claims circulating on social media along with the video.

The investigation is being handled by the Elkhart County Homicide Unit.

Officials assured the unit could remain objective working in the same county when asked.

Family members, who say they have lived in the community for the last 20 years are demanding transparency with time.

A family member speaking through a translator said officials should “be transparent, tell the truth, and reveal all the information with detail that Brian’s family deserves as well as the community.”

The comments brought the mayor to tears as they called for the full 13 minutes of body camera video to be released, from the time officers pulled up to the car to when they opened fire.

“That will have to come at the direction of the prosecutor’s office,” Milanese said about releasing the video.

“If it’s up to me, yes, so I have no issues with that at all but again we do have to respect the process and I don’t wanna compromise the investigation for the family, the witnesses involved, the officers involved. Until we have the truth come out, that’s how you have justice as the truth, so that’s what we’re dedicated to,” he added.

“I just wanna say I too am committed to working with the prosecutor’s office to release as much as we can as much as we are allowed to based off what they indicate,” added Mayor Roberson.

The chief said investigations like this can take months, but he and the mayor plan to provide another update by next week where they plan to release the 2 officers names.

Tuesday’s update will also be posted in Spanish.

A silent walk is planned from the memorial at High Dive Park to Saint Vincent Hall on Thursday evening.