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The Redwood City Police Department has released the identities of three officers involved in a Nov. 11 shooting that left a 48-year-old man dead, according to information released to this news organization.
The shooting is now the focus of independent post-incident investigations by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office and the Redwood City Police Department’s Internal Affairs.
According to a public records request submitted to the Redwood City Police Department, the city said it would not provide investigative records but would provide an update on Dec. 29. However, it agreed to identify the officers involved.
Officers named
On the day of the shooting, police arrived at the 200 block of Hemlock Avenue in the Redwood Oaks neighborhood after receiving reports that a man had fired a gun into the sidewalk. Police officers said they used a drone to locate the man, identified as Redwood City resident Jose Reynaldo Lombera, who was found on a residential property. Police said they formed a contact team equipped with both lethal and less-lethal weapons.
According to police, Lombera “pointed” a gun at officers. In response, Redwood City police officers, who have been identified as Officer Jake Granado, Officer Carlos Ordaz and Sgt. Ruben Orozco, fired a combination of lethal rounds and less-lethal munitions. According to police, officers provided medical aid at the scene before Lombera was taken to a hospital, where he later died. Granado, Ordaz and Orozco have been placed on administrative leave, the department said in a statement.
Granado joined the city in February 2020 and Ordaz in July 2020, according to posts on the department’s Instagram account.
The Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training has not yet responded to a records request for all disciplinary files related to the involved officers.
In 2024, Officer Ordaz was honored by the Redwood City Elks Lodge after he and another officer rescued a gunshot victim who was in an area too dangerous for medical personnel to render aid. Hospital staff later told the police department that the victim would have very likely bled out if it weren’t for Ordaz’s actions.
In the public interest
Under the Right to Know Act of 2018 and subsequent legislation, the Redwood City Police Department is required to release a wide range of records because the incident involved a fatal shooting. The law requires disclosure of all investigative materials related to police use of force that results in death or great bodily injury once the investigation is complete.
This includes internal affairs reports, police reports, witness statements and expert analysis. The public will also be able to review audio and video materials such as body-worn camera footage, evidence photos, 911 recordings and transcripts or recordings of interviews.
While state law allows these records to be released, Redwood City would still be able to make some redactions. The main redaction allowed is related to the expectation of privacy of individuals in the records. Redwood City could redact or withhold any document where the public interest in withholding the recording “clearly outweighs” the public interest in disclosure because the release of the recording would violate someone’s reasonable expectation of privacy.
Some examples include removing Social Security numbers, personal emails or officers’ home addresses. When the city makes redactions, it must provide a written explanation of the privacy issue. Entire documents may be withheld only when the privacy concerns cannot be addressed through redaction alone.
Waiting game
But obtaining the records could take some time. Under state law, Redwood City must provide the records within 45 days unless one of many specific exemptions applies.
During an active criminal or administrative investigation, disclosure may be delayed for up to 60 days after the incident or until the District Attorney’s Office decides whether to file criminal charges against a party involved, whichever comes first. If the records could “reasonably interfere with a criminal enforcement proceeding” against either an officer or member of the public, the police department may delay disclosure by no more than 18 months and must provide updates every 180 days.
In cases where the enforcement proceeding is against a member of the public, the department may be able to extend the time to respond past 18 days.
Disclosure can also be delayed by no more than 180 days during an administrative investigation.
Finally, disclosure may also be delayed during a criminal trial.
The District Attorney’s Office is leading the investigation into the use of force, with support from the police department and the county Coroner’s Office. The District Attorney’s Office declined to provide additional information until its investigation is complete and deferred to the Redwood City Police Department.
The police department will provide an update on the disclosure timeline on Dec. 29. The department indicated that the District Attorney’s investigation may last 14 weeks.
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