Newly released docs show how Wyland Gomes' dad obtained gun used to kill son: Attorney

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The mother of a Hanford boy who died at the hands of his father is now one step closer to justice as new documents reveal how the killer got the gun.

Victor Gomes shot and killed his son, Wyland, before turning the weapon on himself at a Hanford home in 2020. Wyland was 10 years old.

"He was funny and smart and polite and quiet," his mother, Christy Camara, said.

Camara has been pushing for answers since the tragic day. Investigators say her estranged husband used a handgun he bought legally years earlier.

But Camara and her attorney say Victor never should have had that firearm because of a restraining order filed against him.

"We know that he was prohibited possessor," attorney Joseph Alioto Jr. said. "At that time, he was subject to a restraining order that prohibited him from purchasing guns, and yet the Department of Justice approved his background check."

Alioto sued the California Department of Justice in 2022, demanding the department release several documents detailing how Victor bought the gun.

The DOJ objected over confidentiality and legal concerns.

Then, late last month, a San Francisco court ruling required the DOJ to turn over the records and make them public.

A Department of Justice representative said, "DOJ is in the process of complying with the judgment."

"The records show that of the four restraining orders that were issued against Victor Gomes by the Superior Court, the Superior Court only entered one of those in accordance with the law," Alioto said.

He says the records prove the gun purchase was only allowed because something slipped through the cracks.

Alioto points to the Kings County Courthouse, where Camara filed for divorce, saying staff there only told the DOJ about the restraining order eight months after it took effect.

"What happened in the interim," Alioto said, "(was) Gomes went out and bought a gun in May of 2017, and that was the gun he used to kill Wyland."

The victim's mother is now trying to raise awareness and pursue changes to ensure such lapses do not happen again.

"I can't bring my son back, but if we could just save one child and one family from going through the pain that my family and my community and I have been through, then it will be worth it."

Camara and her attorney have filed a lawsuit against the Superior Court of Kings County. The court told Action News that it cannot comment on the matter.