Officer Involved Shooting in Laramie Investigated by DCI
An officer-involved shooting in Laramie on Sunday has been handed to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.
The DCI operations commander Robbie Jones spoke with K2 Radio News and could only say they are working on an investigation and would not elaborate.
The alleged victim in this incident is 39-year-old Robbie Ramirez is described as having mental health issues including schizophrenia. K2 spoke with the brother of the alleged victim, Randy Ramirez who said the condition is actually called Schizoaffective, a chronic mental health condition characterized primarily by symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations or delusions, and symptoms of a mood disorder, such as mania and depression.
Ironically, their mother, Debbie Hinkel is the Chair of the Albany County Mental Health Board, and regularly conducts clinics for law enforcement officers on dealing with people with mental health issues.
The officer involved was described to K2 by the family as a Sheriff's Deputy.
The board meets regularly and those meetings include both the Sheriff and Chief of Police, along with County Attorney Peggy Trent.
Ramirez says that he has been told his brother was pulled over for a traffic stop by a Sheriff's Deputy whom Robbie Ramirez knew. According to Randy Ramirez, Robbie and this deputy were in high school together and were in the choir and played on the same baseball team.
The brother told K2 that his understanding is that Robbie would not roll down his window, and drove away, reportedly to his home.
According to Randy Ramirez, that is where some sort of confrontation took place that ended with the fatal shooting.
Ramirez says that the only thing the family has been told by DCI is that there is body-cam footage.
Albany County Attorney Peggy Trent will be issuing a statement on the matter.
Ramirez told K2 that his brother had been involved in confrontations, even fights before, but those were almost 2 decades ago. His primary instinct in situations like this, according to his brother, was to run away, avoid confrontation.
And, due to his mental health issues, was not able to legally obtain a firearm.
DCI could not give the family, he says, any indication about how long the investigation might take, and local authorities have not communicated any details of the incident.