By Angela Shen, FOX 7 Austin |
LIBERTY HILL, Texas – Family members and friends gathered for a vigil to remember 21-year-old Jackson Lieber, who was shot and killed by a police officer exactly one month ago. His parents have filed a lawsuit this week against that officer.
Jackson’s family describes him as a bright, kind, young man. He was valedictorian of his class and had a full ride scholarship to UT Austin.
“He was such a bright boy, he had more potential than most of the people I’ve ever met in my life,” Matthew Lieber, Jackson’s father, said. “I can’t think of a better quality for a father to be proud of in his son than kindness.”
On January 18, officials say Lieber drove off the road and crashed into the front yard of a home.
According to the lawsuit, an argument broke out with some of the residents, and some used physical force to restrain him.
Officials say responding officers were told Lieber was trespassing and refusing to leave the property. An officer shot Lieber twice, and he died at a nearby hospital.
“At first, I was almost completely numb. I just couldn’t process it,” Matthew said.
Jackson’s parents are filing a lawsuit against Liberty Hill Police Officer Esteban Gomez-Sanchez.
The lawsuit reads in part, “Jackson Lieber, if he committed any crime, it may have been the nonviolent crime of trespassing, was unarmed, and did not pose a threat to Defendant Gomez-Sanchez or the general public at the time of the shooting.”
“We’re not getting any answers. This is all about transparency and accountability and holding the officer accountable for the actions that he took and trying to get justice for Jackson, justice for the family,” family attorney Robert Ranco said.
“Some minutes I’m absolutely just broken with sorrow and other minutes, I’m angry at the world really, at other moments, I try to find that center and that clarity and just remember, at the end of the day, I don’t know what happened,” Matthew said.
Ranco says they would like to see any body camera video, dash camera video, and interviews.
“There would be a lot of information that would be available through litigation that we can’t get and that we haven’t been able to get with our informal attempts or even our formal attempts through open records requests,” he said. “Our understanding is that Liberty Hill police officers do wear body cameras, there’s some documentation that we’ve been able to find online that would suggest that. We haven’t been able to get any confirmation of really anything.”
“My family is hurting,” Matthew said. “All of us every single day wake up wondering what happened to Jackson.”
“If we compare the responsiveness we’re getting in this case to other cases that I’ve handled, this is markedly different. We are getting far less communication, far less feedback, far less transparency in this situation than we do in most, and that is very frustrating,” Ranco said. “Other law enforcement agencies have made different choices, have implemented different policies to create transparency much earlier in the process.”
The Texas Rangers are investigating the case.
“I really respect what the Rangers do, and I hope they get to the bottom of this. I don’t want to interfere with their investigation, but I want to know what happened. Day 30 of just being shocked,” Matthew said.
In a statement posted Friday, the City of Liberty Hill says:
“The Texas Rangers are conducting a thorough and transparent investigation, with full cooperation from the City of Liberty Hill and the Liberty Hill Police Department, into the events involving Jackson Lieber and the City’s Police Officer Esteban Gomez that took place January 18, 2023. We are all awaiting the results, and it is our understanding that the investigation should be completed soon.
This tragic event shook our community, and the City of Liberty Hill is terribly saddened for everyone affected by it. More information may be shared once the investigation is concluded.”