Officer who shot Michael Nida back at work, but assigned to desk duty

DOWNEY – The officer who fatally shot Michael Nida has returned to work, but he has been assigned to desk duty, according to Downey Police Capt. Steve Garza.

Officer Steve Gilley shot Nida in October after Nida fled from police. Gilley was put on paid administrative leave immediately following the shooting.

Gilley has been back at work for months, but he has not been out on any patrols, Garza said.

Gilley was one of several officers responding to a call of an ATM robbery near Imperial Highway and Paramount Boulevard. Nida was crossing Imperial when he was first stopped by police. He fled and went into a nearby backyard before he was eventually confronted by police a second time in a shopping center on the southeast corner.

He was fatally shot in the back of the left shoulder by Gilley after Nida made what was an “aggressive” move.

Police later learned Nida, a father of four, was unarmed and had nothing to do with the robbery.

Nida’s family has sued the city, and the case is expected to go to trial in a Los Angeles federal court on May 7.

A District Attorney’s investigation on the shooting is expected within the next month.