Hemet Shooting Becomes Homicide Investigation
Eric Gomez was jailed on an attempted-murder allegation before Ryan Ankenbauer died from his wounds; homicide investigators then said they would ask prosecutors for a murder charge.
Shooting: July 7, 2026 | Gomez arrested: July 17 | Victim died: July 26 | Homicide referral: July 27
Summary
A Hemet shooting that began as an attempted-murder investigation became a homicide case after the wounded victim died nearly three weeks later. Riverside County investigators identified the suspect as Eric Gomez, 42, of Moreno Valley, and the victim as Ryan Ankenbauer, 36, of Hemet.
Deputies were dispatched to the 24000 block of Rosebrugh Lane at 11:29 p.m. on July 7, 2026 after a report of an assault with a deadly weapon. They found an adult man with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Investigators arrested Gomez on July 17 near Gilbert Street and Stetson Avenue in Hemet. He was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center for attempted murder. At that point Ankenbauer was still alive, so the booking reflected the circumstances known then.
The victim’s death changed the investigation
Ankenbauer died on July 26. The Riverside Sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit was notified the next day and took over the investigation. Authorities then publicly identified him as the victim.
That sequence matters legally because a fatal result can change the offense prosecutors consider. A suspect who was initially booked for attempted murder can later face a homicide charge if prosecutors conclude the evidence supports causation, the required mental state and the other elements of a murder offense.
The sheriff’s department did not announce that a murder count had already been filed. Its release said homicide investigators would resubmit the case to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office with a request for a murder charge against Gomez. This article preserves that distinction rather than turning a request into a completed prosecution step.
What police have publicly said
The official release gives a narrow chronology. Deputies responded late on July 7, found the wounded man and began an assault-with-a-deadly-weapon investigation. Detectives later identified Gomez as the suspect and used the sheriff’s Emergency Services Team to help locate him.
Gomez was taken into custody without incident on July 17. The public release does not describe a detailed motive, relationship between the men, weapon recovery or a complete updated article of the shooting. Those gaps are left open here instead of being filled with speculation.
After Ankenbauer died, the case moved from the Hemet Station investigation to the Central Homicide Unit. That transfer is the clearest official sign that the legal and investigative posture had changed, even before any amended criminal complaint was confirmed.
Why an upgraded charge is not automatic
A death following a shooting does not, by itself, establish murder. Prosecutors still have to evaluate whether the accused caused the death, whether the evidence supports the required intent or another homicide theory, and whether defenses or intervening medical issues affect criminal liability.
The district attorney, not the sheriff’s public-information office, decides what charges to file in court. Investigators can recommend an amended or upgraded charge, but that recommendation and the prosecutor’s filing decision are separate events.
For that reason the headline says a murder charge was sought, not that Gomez had already been convicted or even formally arraigned on murder. His guilt on any charge remains for the court to determine.
Case chronology
The chronology is unusually important here. July 7 is the shooting date. July 17 is the arrest on attempted murder. July 26 is the victim’s death. July 27 is the completed homicide-unit action: investigators were notified, assumed the case and said they would return it to prosecutors seeking a murder charge.
A later news publication date does not replace that chronology. The site’s date is tied to the last completed substantive case event verified in the public record, not simply the day a newspaper wrote about it.
If the Riverside County District Attorney later files a murder count, dismisses the attempted-murder charge, obtains an indictment, reaches a plea or proceeds to trial, that later court event should supersede the current homicide-referral date.
Current status
The investigation remained active in the sheriff’s July 29 public release. Officials asked anyone with information to contact the Central Homicide Unit or Hemet Station investigators.
The available source set confirms Gomez’s attempted-murder booking and the homicide investigators’ request for an upgraded charge. It does not establish a final plea, verdict, dismissal or sentence.
Accordingly, the article treats Gomez as an accused person and uses allegation language throughout. An arrest and a police request for a murder charge are not proof of guilt.
What remains unverified
The public sheriff’s release does not identify a weapon, publish a probable-cause narrative, state a motive, or describe what Gomez allegedly said after his arrest. It also does not say that a prosecutor had accepted the requested murder charge by the time of the release. Those are meaningful limits. A later charging document may contain more detail, but this version does not borrow facts from unrelated Hemet shootings or assume that an investigative recommendation automatically became a court count.
The same caution applies to custody. The official release confirms Gomez was booked for attempted murder at the Robert Presley Detention Center on July 17. It does not provide a final bond disposition, plea, or trial schedule in the material reviewed here. Readers should therefore treat the current article as a verified homicide-investigation update, not as a completed prosecution history.
Sources
- Riverside County Sheriff: Hemet homicide investigation
- CBS Los Angeles: Ryan Ankenbauer dies after Hemet shooting
- San Bernardino Sun: murder charge sought after victim dies
- Canyon Lake Insider: homicide investigators seek upgraded charge
This article uses the Riverside County Sheriff’s wording carefully: homicide investigators said they would request a murder charge after Ryan Ankenbauer died. The reviewed source set did not confirm that prosecutors had already filed that upgraded count.
