Big rally in Santa Rosa over toy gun killing Hundreds demand arrest of deputy who opened fire on boy with toy gun

Street protests over the fatal shooting of a boy who was carrying a toy AK-47 hit a peak Tuesday when hundreds of people marched through Santa Rosa to demand punishment for the Sonoma County sheriff's deputy who mistook the teen's plastic pellet gun for a real rifle.

The Oct. 22 death of Andy Lopez Cruz had prompted a series of smaller vigils and demonstrations, but Tuesday's event - which was boisterous but peaceful - underscored that many community members and activists believe only public pressure will force action.

The protest was dominated by young people from the area, but others were bused in by organizations. They carried signs reading "Justice for Andy," listened to speeches made over megaphones, and chanted, "Look before you shoot."

They marched through downtown Santa Rosa toward the headquarters of the sheriff's office as dozens of police officers looked on, some wearing riot gear. Students, including 15-year-old Joseph Douchette, skipped school to join in. He carried a sign reading, "Jail all racist killer cops."

"This guy was in the Army," the teenager said of the deputy identified Monday as Army veteran and 24-year department veteran Erick Gelhaus. "He should have known the difference between a real and fake gun."

'We need justice'

Gracela Rebira leads chants as the marchers carry signs along Mendocino Avenue to the headquarters of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office in Santa Rosa. Gracela Rebira leads chants as the marchers carry signs along Mendocino Avenue to the headquarters of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office in Santa Rosa. Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 39 Caption Close Big rally in Santa Rosa over toy gun killing 1 / 39 Back to Gallery

Endina Cortez, 15, who took the day off from school, said, "We need justice. We need to be here. It's a community thing. We can't just let it go."

Many demonstrators questioned whether Andy would have been killed if he was white, noting that people of color are most often killed in police shootings. Andy, whose parents are immigrants from Mexico, was killed near his home in a heavily Latino neighborhood just outside Santa Rosa.

Ronald Woodman, a resident of the small community of Valley Ford west of Santa Rosa, said the shooting was a lesson for the area's young people of color.

"These kids are going to have to stand up for themselves," said Woodman, 47. "You have to be political. You have to take a stand, just like you have lunch or dinner. ... It's too bad they had to learn this way."

Among those who arrived from out of town were members of the Revolutionary Communist Party from Berkeley and Dionne Smith-Downs, whose 15-year-old son was fatally shot by officers in Stockton in 2010. Police said the teen was shot while driving a minivan taken in an armed carjacking.

"It's hard to organize in smaller cities," Smith-Downs said of Santa Rosa. "We need this officer to be put behind bars."

The march led some Santa Rosa businesses to close their doors temporarily and some restaurants to move seating indoors. Mark Auerbach, an Oakland native who owns Mark Allen Jewelers on Santa Rosa's main downtown street, said merchants were worried the shooting might lead to the type of vandalism seen during protests in recent years in downtown Oakland.

Peaceful protest

But the rally lasted more than three hours and remained peaceful. That was the wish of a person identifying himself as Andy's brother, who wrote in a Facebook post, "Please I ask for things not to get out of hand for the respect of the family."

The rally came a day after the sheriff's office identified the deputy who opened fire on Andy as Gelhaus, who has broad experience with guns as a firearms instructor, hunter and Iraq War veteran.

He accidentally shot himself in the leg in 1995 while on duty with the sheriff's office, reportedly while holstering a gun. However, officials said he had not, until last week, fired on a suspect in 24 years with the agency.

An attorney for Gelhaus has declined to comment. The deputy is on paid leave pending investigations by Santa Rosa and Petaluma police and the Sonoma County district attorney's office.

The FBI has also launched an independent inquiry to determine whether any federal civil rights violations occurred.

According to Santa Rosa police officials, the shooting happened after Gelhaus and a newly hired deputy he was training pulled up behind Andy. They had seen him walking near his home west of Highway 101 with what appeared to be an assault rifle, officials said, but it was a plastic pellet gun that Andy used to play games with friends.

Gelhaus got out of the vehicle and ordered the boy to drop the gun, which did not have an orange tip - a feature that toy guns must have under federal law. When he didn't drop the gun and turned toward the deputies, Gelhaus fired eight times, fearing for his life, officials said.