The car owned by the suspect in a fatal police shooting in Denver has been found in Southern California, where his girlfriend said he would go.
Sandra Rivas, the girlfriend of Raul Garcia-Gomez, who police suspect fatally shot Detective Donald “Donnie” Young and wounded officer John “Jack” Bishop, said Wednesday that her boyfriend probably would go to the Los Angeles area because he has family there.
Denver police officials would not confirm that the car was found in California, as TV reports said. But Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman said police are no longer searching for his white Dodge Neon. Denver authorities also would not say whether they are focusing their search in the Los Angeles area.
Police believe the 19-year-old may have headed to Mexico, where he is from, or possibly Las Vegas or California.
“We’re still rolling hard on this,” Whitman said Wednesday. “Until he is in custody, we’re not going to slow down.”
The chief said the department’s goal was to arrest a suspect before Young’s funeral Friday.
Anna VanderJagt, the wife of the last Denver officer who was fatally shot, said Wednesday that she would like to talk to Young’s widow.
“It’s a crazy time in those days after (the death),” said VanderJagt, whose husband, Bruce VanderJagt, was shot and killed in the line of duty more than seven years ago. “Your whole world has been turned upside down, and it’s just starting to sink in that your husband isn’t coming home again.”
While police concentrated on finding Garcia-Gomez, several groups of people initiated fundraisers on behalf of Young’s widow, Kelly Young, and his two daughters.
“It’s overwhelming,” Whitman said. “Kelly Young is doing as well as can be expected.”
He said that Bishop is also doing well physically and wants to come back to work, but Whitman wants him to stay with his family longer and recuperate.
Bishop met with Kelly Young on Tuesday.
“He was able to share the last moments of Donnie’s life,” Whitman said.
Rivas said that her boyfriend left a family baptismal party at the Salon Ocampo social hall in southwest Denver and that when he tried to re-enter the building early Sunday, police grabbed him by the neck and bruised his arm, making him angry. Police believe Garcia-Gomez then shot and killed Young and wounded Bishop. Both were working in uniform off-duty at the party.
Rivas denied that she had told the Rocky Mountain News that her boyfriend had confessed to shooting both officers, as the newspaper reported Wednesday.
“He never told me what happened,” Rivas told The Post. “I just want him to come home; he’s the father of my baby.”
Rocky Mountain News managing editor Deb Goeken said Rivas told a reporter in the presence of a photographer that her boyfriend had confessed.
“She did tell our reporter that,” Goeken said. “He’s got the notes. He was there. She was very clear about what she said.”
Mark Eddy, a spokesman for Wynkoop Holdings Inc., which owns the Cherry Creek restaurant where Garcia-Gomez worked, said the suspect had what appeared to have proper documentation to legally work in the United States.
Early Sunday, Garcia-Gomez worked a full shift at his dishwashing job at the Cherry Cricket just hours after the shooting.
He clocked in at the restaurant at 8 a.m., Eddy said. The suspect later clocked out at 4:08 p.m., Eddy said. The shootings happened about 1 a.m.
“It’s a weird thing to work with someone elbow to elbow who is accused of something like this,” Eddy said.
Garcia-Gomez was hired 10 months ago, Eddy said. At the time, he presented owners with a Social Security card and a Resident Alien card, said Eddy, who provided copies of the documents to The Post.
“Those are both proper forms of identification,” Eddy said. “No one at Wynkoop would hire someone knowingly without it.”
The Cherry Cricket is owned by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. He turned over management of the restaurant when he became mayor.
Garcia-Gomez was a good employee who competed with fellow employees to get his work done quickly, Eddy said. His last monthly work evaluation noted he was a sound employee at a job that has a 100 percent annual turnover, he said.
“People are basically shocked,” Eddy said.
Staff writers Felisa Cardona and Robert Sanchez contributed to this report.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
