Euless cop killer’s mental state was questioned before shooting

The day before Jorge Brian Gonzalez shot and killed a Euless officer, a doctor at John Peter Smith Hospital offered to admit Gonzalez into the hospital’s psychiatric unit, but was assured by police that the patient was going to be in “jail for a while.”

The doctor wrote that Gonzalez could receive psychiatric treatment at the Tarrant County Jail and also recommended he be placed on suicide watch, according to a Feb. 29 medical report obtained by the Star-Telegram.

The officer, who is not identified in the medical report, told the ER doctor that because Gonzalez “had broken into a building” and “broken into 15 cars” that he would be “processed and charged, would not bail out but would then be taken to Tarrant County Jail.”

Instead, after being discharged, Gonzalez — who had been arrested earlier that day for public intoxication — was returned to the Euless Jail.

He was released the next morning. Four hours after getting out of jail, the 22-year-old Gonzalez ambushed and fatally shot officer David Hofer in a neighborhood park in Euless. Police shot and killed Gonzalez, who had methamphetamine, amphetamine and cocaine in his system at the time of the shootings, according an autopsy report.

Euless police declined comment on the medical report, saying the case is still under investigation. JPS would not comment, citing privacy law.

Gonzalez, who had a long history of drug abuse and run-ins with police, had been arrested on Feb. 29 after his father called 911, saying his son and a friend were high and had stolen money from him.

Gonzalez had cuts on his hand and wrist. His cuts began to bleed as his behavior became more bizarre, and he was transported from the Euless Jail to JPS.

In the Feb. 29 medical report, Dr. Jonathan Kirk wrote that Gonzalez had “acute drug intoxication” and had been brought to the hospital after being arrested for suspicion of car burglary.

A Feb. 29 police report said that Gonzalez told officers he had cut his hand while “breaking out the windows of his own vehicle.” The report said an auto repair shop in Euless had reported that several vehicles had broken windows with “several areas of fresh blood,” but it was not determined whether Gonzalez and his friend were suspects.

The doctor asked the police officer what the “pathway” would be for Gonzalez if he was not under arrest. The doctor said he could help place the young man in the behavioral evaluation unit, also known as the Psychiatric Emergency Center on the 10th floor of the main hospital, according to the JPS report.

The officer said he had seen Gonzalez “change a lot over the years due to known drug abuse” and understood that he has “mental health challenges,” according to the medical report.

The officer told the doctor that Gonzalez would be “in jail for a while.” About 5:30 p.m., Gonzalez was discharged into police custody.

But instead of going to the Tarrant County Jail, police took Gonzalez back to Euless.

‘He was bad in the head’

The Feb. 29 hospital visit was the second time in fewer than 10 days that Euless police had taken Gonzalez to JPS. On Feb. 21, while riding in an ambulance to JPS, Gonzalez told a Euless officer that he wanted to kill him. A doctor at JPS diagnosed Gonzalez with having homicidal thoughts and numerous drug-related disorders, according to discharge papers. Gonzalez was released on Feb. 23.

Gonzalez’s father, Jorge Antonio Gonzalez, questioned why his son wasn’t arrested on “threats to a police officer” after the Feb. 21 incident and why he wasn’t kept in the hospital longer for psychological treatment.

“If they took him to the doctor, why didn’t they leave him there,” said Gonzalez, in Spanish. “They knew he was sick — that he was bad in the head.”

The father said he does not know if his son was breaking into cars the morning of Feb. 29.

“I can’t say yes or no, because I don’t know,” he said.

But since his son’s death, Gonzalez’s father has repeatedly questioned why his son was not jailed on a theft charge.

“I wanted him to go to jail so he could get better,” Jorge Antonio Gonzalez previously told the Star-Telegram.

Randy Moore, an attorney with the Texas Municipal Patrolman’s Association, said Euless police likely did all it could legally do to hold Gonzalez.

“It takes time to work up criminal cases and invoke legal rights for the accused, including the right to bond,” said Moore, who is representing four officers in connection with Gonzalez’s shooting death. “The suspect didn’t meet mental commitment criteria, in my opinion, but if he did, it takes time to get the process started and finished. Even then, my experience is that they get out in 48 hours or so.”

Moore added that the police mental warrant system that could have been used only covers 72 hours and voluntary admission doesn’t “work for adult addicts” because they can sign out after a cooling off period.

“...the suspect could have walked out of jail and admitted himself to JPSH or his family could have gotten involved to do so,” Moore said in a statement. “Why didn’t that happen? The bottom line is that he assassinated an officer and the dead officer is the victim.”

Alert after being shot

After being returned to the Euless Jail on Feb. 29, Gonzalez spent the night in jail and was released the next morning after appearing before a municipal judge and agreeing to a sentence of 20 hours of community service.

Jorge Antonio Gonzalez said he believes his son took drugs soon after he left jail.

Police say Gonzalez broke into a Euless house and stole guns and went to J.A. Carr Park. Hiding along a creek bed, he fired a few random shots. Hofer, who responded to the 911 call, was fatally wounded as he approached Gonzalez.

Hofer died on the operating table at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Grapevine. Gonazlez was shot multiple times by Euless officers and was pronounced dead at JPS.

According ambulance records, EMS workers with the Euless Fire Department wrote that upon arriving at the park, the wounded Gonzalez was in police custody and “reported that he wanted to be let go.” The patient “reported that he would not give anymore info at this time.”

Workers wrote that the patient was “breathing well” and that “minimal bleeding was noted” and that police officers were administering first aid.

He was taken by ambulance to JPS, where his condition worsened and he was pronounced dead.

His cause of death was listed as multiple gunshot wounds.

Gonzalez scarred by abuse

Medical records, police reports and Gonzalez’s family have stated that Gonzalez struggled with drug abuse, including meth and cocaine. His family has stated that Gonzalez’s sexual abuse by a pastor who was also a family friend contributed to the young man’s problems.

Between June 2014 and March 1, Gonzalez’s health, drug abuse, emotional and psychological well-being were addressed several times by JPS medical staff. Healthcare personnel inquired about his hallucinations, drug use and suicide attempts.

Gonzalez told medical caregivers at JPS that being sexually abused as a child hardened him as a teen.

“He still struggles with this event despite multiple attempts at counseling,” a report dated Oct. 25, 2015 said. “He states he started gang-banging and being aggressive at that time to keep people away from him so no one would touch him again.”

On Oct. 25, 2015, he also documented his fear of himself to medical staff: “He states that he is ‘afraid of myself’ and the ‘things I can do if I lose my self-control.’ ”

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Euless cop killer’s mental state was questioned before shooting."