Ex-Austin officer testifies in civil trial over 2021 fatal road rage shooting

Gabriel Gutierrez, the former Austin police officer who fatally shot Alex Gonzales Jr. during a 2021 off-duty road rage encounter, took the witness stand this week in a civil trial stemming from the incident and described feeling intense fear in the moments leading up to the shooting.

"It was chaotic and I’m trying not to get shot," Gutierrez said in testimony on Wednesday, a day after revealing from the stand he had since left the Police Department and now works as an officer in Seguin.

The testimony marked Gutierrez’s first public remarks since the January 2021 shooting of the 27-year-old Gonzales in southeast Austin. Both men had pulled over after a traffic dispute and were seated in their vehicles when Gutierrez opened fire.

A Travis County grand jury declined to indict Gutierrez on criminal charges and Austin Police Department leaders decided his actions didn’t warrant disciplinary action.

But a wrongful death lawsuit that Gonzales’ parents filed against Gutierrez, the Police Department and the city of Austin, has proceeded. It is rare for such claims against municipalities to make it to a courtroom but U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, who is presiding over the trial, ruled in March that the plaintiffs’ had presented sufficient evidence to suggest the Police Department had cultivated "a culture of officer impunity."

Scrutiny Over 911 Call and Internal Statements

Gutierrez has maintained he acted in self-defense, saying Gonzales brandished a firearm during the encounter. However, Gonzales’ parents argue that Gutierrez’s use of lethal force was unjustified.

According to investigators, a firearm was later recovered from the floorboard of Gonzales’ car. It was loaded but not chambered, meaning it was not ready to fire.

But in direct examination that spanned Tuesday and Wednesday, plaintiffs’ attorney Donald Puckett focused on discrepancies between Gutierrez’s 911 call immediately after the shooting and statements he later made to internal investigators.

In court Tuesday, jurors listened to a portion of the 911 call. Gutierrez told the dispatcher he was an off-duty officer and said, "shots fired," without clarifying that he had fired the shots himself.

Gutierrez said in training he was taught that the term "means you’re shooting or you’ve been shot at."

But Puckett argued that Gutierrez’s language was misleading and told the jury he plans to call other officers who will testify that "shots fired" is generally reserved for situations where an officer is being fired upon.

Puckett also noted that Gutierrez initially reported seeing Gonzales walking with a gun in his hand outside his vehicle. However, in a later interview with internal affairs, Gutierrez said he never saw Gonzales holding a gun outside of the car.

Gutierrez attributed any perceived falsehoods to the chaos of the moment and repeatedly emphasized the fear he felt during the incident – a central pillar of his self-defense claim.

"I was dealing with someone who just tried to kill me," he testified. "I gave dispatch accurate information to the best of my ability."

When asked if he believed it was misleading to tell on-scene officers that Gonzales was armed — despite admitting he didn’t see a gun outside the vehicle — Gutierrez denied any intent to deceive. "I was trying to relay commands to that person so they wouldn’t turn around and shoot me," he said.

Police Tactics and Alleged Deception

In a notable exchange, Puckett asked Gutierrez whether he believed routine police work sometimes involves "an element of deception," such as undercover operations or field interrogations.

Gutierrez agreed, adding that some tactics — like telling a suspect they aren’t in trouble — can be effective tools. "It can be a great tool for de-escalation," he said under cross-examination by his attorney, Albert Lopez.

He also acknowledged that "pretextual traffic stops" — when an officer uses a minor violation to investigate a more serious crime — were common at the department, though he couldn’t recall receiving formal training on the practice.

Later Wednesday, Assistant City Attorney Gray Laird, who is representing the city and police department at trial, asked Gutierrez if APD’s lack of discipline played "any role" in his decision to use lethal force.

"Absolutely not," Gutierrez replied.

Departure from APD revealed

After taking the stand for the first time on Tuesday, Gutierrez testified that he left the Police Department — a previously unreported development – to be closer to his girlfriend in San Antonio. He said he now works for the Seguin Police Department.

Austin Police Department spokeswoman Anna Sabana confirmed that Gutierrez resigned on April 20, 2024.

The city of Austin indemnifies officers from personal liability in litigation resulting from actions taken in their capacity as Police Department employees, Puckett explained to jurors earlier this week. If the jury awards damages to the plaintiffs, the city will pay them, not Gutierrez.

The trial continues this week.