Broward Cuts Off Medical Funds For Latino Man Mistakenly Shot In Head by Police

A Mexican immigrant shot in the head in November by a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy was discharged Tuesday from an assisted living center where he had been recovering. German Gomez, 22, left the Williamsburg Landing center in Wilton Manors around 10:30 a.m. in a wheelchair. Gomez was discharged after the Sheriff's Office stopped paying for his care. Gomez will continue his recovery at the Whispering Isles apartments, where Deputy Lewis Perry shot him on Nov. 3. He'll be sharing a second-story, two-bedroom apartment with up to 10 other men. There are no elevators and Gomez had to be carried up the stairs. "Perhaps he will sleep on the floor," said his attorney, David Kubiliun, "We just don't know." The Sheriff's Office had been covering Gomez's medical expenses since he was released from North Broward Medical Center on Dec. 14. Gomez needs a helmet to support the left side of his head, where the bullet struck. He's able to walk with assistance and speak for brief periods. The shooting, which Kubiliun said was unjustified, is being investigated by the Sheriff's Office, the State Attorney's Office and the U.S. Department of Justice. According to a March 8 memo to Kubiliun, Gomez's doctors recommended that he continue physical, occupational and speech therapy for another one to two months. That's not available to Gomez in the apartment, Kubiliun said. Gomez's brothers, also Mexican immigrants, will give him the medicine he left the center with, which should last about three days, Kubiliun said. The brothers say they have no money to buy more medicine. They and Kubiliun want Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne to keep paying for Gomez's care in the assisted living center, which according to Kubiliun runs some $10,000 a month. According to the Mexican Consulate and Kubiliun -- who has notified the sheriff he intends to sue -- arrangements had been made with the Sheriff's Office to cover Gomez's medical expenses. [more] and [more]