Psychologist: Dear Sacramento Sheriff's Office, stop killing my patients

On the same day the Sacramento chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) held its kickoff luncheon to celebrate its upcoming annual fundraiser, Sacramento County sheriff's deputies shot and killed a man in crisis. Mental Health. The fatal encounter between Christopher Gilmore, 36, and a Sacramento County sheriff's deputy occurred in Rio Linda on March 23.

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Gilmore was suicidal and cutting himself in the bathroom at his place of residence when his sister called 911 to ask paramedics and firefighters to respond to her brother. Instead of the requested emergency services arriving on scene, four county sheriff's deputies arrived instead. Gilmore emerged from the garage, still holding the small blade he had used to cut himself, when he was shot multiple times with “less lethal shotgun bullets.”

According to media reports, Gilmore began to fall after being hit by rubber bullets.

“Then they shot him with a real gun when he was already down and they killed him,” said the victim's sister, Bobbie Gilmore.

Gilmore was killed despite his known history of mental health problems, even though he was holding a weapon less than two inches long, despite not harming anyone other than himself, and despite the fact that his relatives had specifically called non-police emergency responders.

Why did sheriff's deputies respond instead of the Sacramento County Community Wellness Response Team, a team made up of a mental clinician and a peer support specialist who responds to behavioral health crises and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year? Why did sheriff's deputies kill Gilmore despite being equipped with a Taser, pepper spray, handcuffs and 24 hours of crisis intervention training and additional time spent on simulation training situation?

Sheriff's deputies used deadly force on a naked, bloodied, anguished man, killing another Sacramento County resident who was experiencing a mental health crisis.

This tragic and egregious situation is all too familiar. Jaime Naranjo, 54, was shot and killed by a Sacramento sheriff's deputy in 2022 after his wife called the sheriff's office to seek help for her husband who was going through a mental health crisis. That deputy was on scene for only 23 seconds before opening fire on Naranjo in front of his wife in her backyard.

A person with an untreated mental illness is 16 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement than other civilians during a confrontation. Reducing encounters between law enforcement and people experiencing a mental health crisis remains the most immediate and practical strategy for reducing fatal police shootings.

Cooperation of law enforcement agencies in all county jurisdictions must be ensured for appropriate use of the Community Wellness Response Team, which can be accessed directly by calling (916) 999-HOPE — (916) ) 999-4673 — so that no one else is murdered for having a mental health crisis.

It is unacceptable to allow these fatal consequences to continue.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors has the power to do much more than performative actions like wearing a green ribbon during Mental Health Awareness Month or attending a kickoff luncheon for NAMI Sacramento. I implore them to hold the Sacramento Sheriff's Office accountable for this failure to use our county's behavioral health crisis response system.

Christopher Gilmore deserved better. Her sister deserves better. His loved ones deserve better. The community members in the neighborhood where he was murdered by law enforcement deserve better.

People facing mental health crises deserve better.

Dr. Corrine McIntosh Sako, PsyD, LMFT, is the current chair of the Sacramento County Mental Health Board and past president of the Sacramento Valley Psychological Association. She has provided direct clinical services to Sacramento County residents for over 15 years.