photo by: Contributed

Omar Dominguez Gavilan, 28, was shot and killed Jan. 5, 2025, at Lawrence City Hall.

Story updated at 6 p.m. Friday, March 6:

The City of Lawrence employee who fatally shot a 28-year-old man two months ago at City Hall will not be charged with a crime, after the DA’s office found that he acted in self-defense and defense of others.

Douglas County District Attorney Dakota Loomis said in a news release late Friday afternoon that he had reviewed the shooting death of Omar Dominguez Gavilan and that no charges would be filed. He also released a summary of the facts of the investigation that detailed what led up to the shooting, in which Gavilan is described as chasing a Lawrence Municipal Court security employee down a hallway, “driving him back into a corner” and trying to grab his service weapon while “on top of him.”

“Our office recognizes the impact this traumatic event has had on our community, city staff, and Omar Dominguez Gavilan’s family and loved ones,” Loomis said in the release. “That is why our office conducted a comprehensive review of the incident, reviewing all relevant information to ensure we reached the appropriate decision. Based upon our review of the available information, state statutes, and case law the filing of criminal charges is not warranted.”

Gavilan, of Buffalo, Minnesota, died Jan. 5 after the early-morning altercation with security personnel. According to Gavilan’s family, he suffered from schizophrenia and was traveling to see his grandmother in Mexico at the time of his death.

The following details are from the factual summary of the investigation that the DA’s office included in its release. The summary was prepared from videos, witness interviews and other evidence:

Gavilan was in Lawrence because Kansas Highway Patrol troopers gave him a ride here on Jan. 4 from the I-70 service area east of town. The factual summary said the troopers saw him harassing employees, banging on the walls inside of the service area and sweating profusely. They told him he could not loiter in the service area, and he requested a ride to a train or bus station.

At about 7:30 p.m., troopers dropped Gavilan off at the Lawrence Amtrak station, half a mile from City Hall. Security footage showed Gavilan in the early morning hours of Jan. 5 walking in the Riverfront Mall parking garage and near the Amtrak station again. At 4:47 a.m., the Amtrak train arrived at the station, and Gavilan walked toward it but did not get on.

Two and a half hours later, around 7:30 a.m., Gavilan enters City Hall. The building wouldn’t normally be open to the public for Municipal Court until 7:45 a.m., but a Municipal Court employee opened the door for Gavilan because of the cold weather. Staff told him to sit down and wait for court to open, but Gavilan instead went into the basement; when the employee who’d let him in told him the area was closed to the public, Gavilan became agitated and began yelling at the employee.

Eventually, after a second Municipal Court employee tried to de-escalate the situation, Gavilan left City Hall and went around to the north side of the building, where he forced open the secure basement door and entered a lobby area. From there, he was able to gain access to a stairwell when another city employee opened the door to it.

After that, multiple employees on the fourth floor saw Gavilan in the stairwell there trying to open the door. One heard him screaming at her in Spanish, and another saw that the window was broken and Gavilan was trying to shake the door open. After she tried to look for help without success, Gavilan managed to open the door, and the employee fled downstairs and notified Municipal Court security of the break-in.

The second Municipal Court employee, referred to in the summary as “MCE2,” then went to the fourth floor, located Gavilan, identified himself as court security and ordered him to put his hands behind his back.

Gavilan refused to obey this command and the security guard’s command to get on the ground, and the guard “placed an outstretched hand on Gavilan’s chest” to keep distance between them. Gavilan shoved the guard into the elevator doors, and the guard responded by kicking him.

“This kick did not faze Mr. Dominguez Gavilan, which led MCE2 to drawing his firearm,” the summary reads.

During an interview after the incident, MCE2 said that Gavilan seemed unusually strong when physically struggling with him, and that “nothing seemed to faze [Mr. Dominguez Gavilan] … he was invincible.” When the guard drew the gun, his service weapon, he said Gavilan responded by saying, “Oh, you’re going to shoot me? Then shoot me. Shoot me!”

Gavilan immediately “swatted” at the gun, “charged towards” the security guard and punched him in the cheek. As the guard retreated down the hallway, Gavilan kept running toward him and shoved him into a glass display case in the corner, pinning him there. “There, he continued attacking MCE2 while also reaching for the gun MCE2 held in his right hand.”

The security guard said in the interview that he was in fear for his life, and that “there was no way I was going to let him get my gun.”

“Based upon Mr. Dominguez Gavilan’s actions, fearing for his own safety and the safety of others, MCE2 discharged his firearm,” the summary said.

The security guard fired three shots, two of which struck Gavilan. Gavilan continued attacking the guard even after being shot, and at one time “grabbed his right arm that was still holding the firearm.” The gun discharged again, striking the wall. Eventually, Gavilan collapsed.

From there, the other Municipal Court employee — the one who had originally let Gavilan in — arrived at the scene, and law enforcement officers and medics shortly followed. They tried to render aid to Gavilan but were not successful.

The summary says MCE2’s injuries included “facial redness, bruising to the thigh and knee, and lacerations and micro-abrasions on his hands,” and that investigators documented complaints of pain in MCE2’s hands and thumbs from the incident.

“The video evidence shows that Mr. Dominguez Gavilan acted as the aggressor, striking MCE2, repeatedly, slapping at his weapon, and driving him back into a corner where he continued to reach for MCE2’s firearm,” the summary says in its conclusion. “Though a duty to retreat does not exist under Kansas law, the video evidence shows that MCE2 attempted to create distance between himself and Mr. Dominguez Gavilan, resorting to the use of his firearm only after being shoved into a corner and with Mr. Dominguez Gavilan on top of him.”

Lawrence police have said that Gavilan did not have a firearm on him when he was shot and killed. The employee responsible for the shooting was placed on administrative leave after the incident per protocol.