Bexar County has filed a response to a lawsuit filed by relatives of a man who was fatally shot by deputies while raising his hands as if to surrender, disputing claims the man was “executed.”

In its court-filed response to the suit, the county also disputes statements made by retired FBI agent Philip Hayden, who said in the suit that deputies had no probable cause to use deadly force after Gilbert Flores, 41, raised his hands and appeared to no longer be a threat, and that the shooting was “unnecessary and unreasonable.”

The county is being defended by the civil division within the office of Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood.

The county’s response further disputes Hayden’s assertion that the sheriff’s office’s policy and procedure manual “gives vague and conflicting instructions to officers on when and under what circumstances force can be used” and that they “ultimately allow officers to determine if deadly force is required based upon their individual judgment without specific guidelines.”

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman has set a hearing for Oct. 7 to take up the Flores family’s request for a temporary restraining order instructing the sheriff’s office to preserve and possibly turn over an unreleased video shot by a neighbor that captured much of Flores’ confrontation with two deputies, including the moment he was shot after raising both hands. The video purportedly shows Flores had both hands up but with a knife in his left hand

The San Antonio Express-News has confirmed through several law enforcement sources that the sheriff’s office recovered a knife from the scene.

The sheriff’s office has said that before Flores was fatally shot, he used a knife to keep deputies at bay while egging them to shoot him. In describing it, the sources said the knife appears longer than a small pocket knife but is not a kitchen knife.

The suit against the sheriff’s office alleges that deputies illegally used excessive force, violated Flores’ civil rights and that the county’s policies and customs contributed to that. The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and exemplary damages.

The sheriff’s office response denies those allegations.

“Defendants Bexar County and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deny that Defendants’ Bexar County and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office policies and/or customs deprived Gilbert Flores of his constitutional rights,” the county’s response states. “Defendants Bexar County and Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deny that the official polices and/or customs of Bexar County and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office were a direct cause in fact and proximate cause of the decedent’s deprivation of constitutional rights, as well as his death.”

As part of the lawsuit, Flores’ relatives want the sheriff’s office to keep the unreleased video in its original form and not alter it. The sheriff’s office has refused to release that video, but sent a copy to the Texas Department of Public Safety to enhance it, and later said the video does show Flores had a knife in his hand when shot.

The county has refused to release any records to the Express-News about the shooting, including the incident report, and submitted its denial to the state’s attorney general.

The suit acknowledges that Flores engaged the deputies in the front yard of the home in the 24000 block of Walnut Pass after they responded to calls of domestic violence there on Aug. 28.

By the time deputies arrived, Flores had punched and cut his wife and hit their infant child, according to law enforcement sources. Flores was trying to get deputies to shoot him, and had tried to stab one of them with a knife, but the deputy blocked the knife with a Plexiglass shield, according to sources.

A widely viewed and publicized video, shot by a witness, shows Flores with at least his right hand up when he was shot. A utility pole obstructs his left hand.

A second video, shot by a neighbor from a closer distance, purportedly shows Flores had both hands up but with a knife in his left hand. It also shows more of his confrontation with the deputies, including him taking away a Taser gun from one of the deputies and throwing it across the street, according to sheriff’s officials and law enforcement sources who have seen the second video.

The family’s suit claims that within a second of Flores raising his hands in surrender, deputies Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez fired shots at Flores, “executing him on the front lawn of his parents' home.” Vasquez and Sanchez are named as defendants in the suit.

In its response, the county also seeks the dismissal of the sheriff’s office as a defendant because it says it is redundant since the county is a defendant. Bexar County also seeks a two-part trial.

“Defendants Bexar County and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, respectfully request a bi-furcated trial with a determination first in regard to the liability of Defendants, Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez, as to the occurrence in question before deciding the issues of Defendants Bexar County and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office’s liability,” the county’s response states.

As for the deputies, “Defendants Vasquez and Sanchez can better respond to the allegations in regard to their actions during the time of the occurrence in question. Defendants Bexar County and Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deny that the claims will result in the resolution of litigation in the Plaintiffs’ favor.”

Earlier this month, the sheriff’s office turned over its investigation file on the matter to LaHood’s office. Generally, such files contain a memo to the prosecution suggesting whether state charges should be filed. No one has publicly said what recommendation, if any, was made to LaHood on whether to charge the deputies.

LaHood has told the media he is reviewing the case, and has not said when it might be presented to a grand jury.

Separately, the FBI is conducting its own criminal investigation to see if the deputies violated Flores’ civil rights. Officials have said the sheriff’s office has been “very cooperative and transparent.”

gcontreras@express-news.net

Twitter: @gmaninfedland