On his last day alive, Romen Phelps crashed his company van through a locked gate at his old high school, rammed a golf cart and slammed into a palm tree before skipping and dancing his way across campus.
Teachers shouted, 鈥淐ode red!鈥� Students fled. Police swarmed. Cameras recorded nearly every move.
But just two people and no cameras were in the school鈥檚 theater when the 33-year-old Dreyfoos High School of the Arts graduate was shot to death on May 13, 2022. One of them, off-duty West Palm Beach police Sgt. Christopher Nagel, killed Phelps with a single gunshot to the chest, police documents reveal.
Officers who had rushed to the scene were stopped by the theater鈥檚 locked main door, awaiting a key. The school police officer who had tracked Phelps since he arrived on campus left to get help 鈥� at the insistence of the off-duty sergeant.
, the sergeant would shoot Phelps. He would be pronounced dead seven minutes after that.
Those details gleaned from nearly 400 pages of investigative reports offer the first full public accounting of the shooting death of Phelps, an electrician acting erratically in the throes of mania fueled by marijuana and with traces of ketamine in his bloodstream.
State Attorney Dave Aronberg announced in May 2023 that against the sergeant.
The name of the sergeant had been withheld until last month, after the Florida Supreme Court threw out a portion of a state law that had been used to withhold the names of crime victims, including police officers who use force.
The sergeant who shot Phelps, Nagel, 41, had been involved in six use of force incidents since he came to the force in 2007. He was lauded for his actions, receiving the Palm Beach County Police Chiefs Officer of the Year Award.
Nagel鈥檚 performance evaluation cited how he 鈥渃almly and professionally carried out his duties as a police officer while under extreme stress鈥� that day at Dreyfoos. Aronberg鈥檚 investigative unit produced , examining video from dozens of cameras elsewhere on campus and reports written by the Medical Examiner鈥檚 Office, the and West Palm Beach police.
Stet Palm Beach paid the State Attorney鈥檚 Office $450 to obtain those investigative reports, a price that covered the cost of redacting exempt information, including the names of the shooter and the school district police officer and results of DNA testing.
To piece together the final two minutes in the theater, investigators relied on an interview with Dreyfoos School of the Arts Principal Blake Bennett and DNA evidence. Nagel, represented by attorney Michael Salnick, or provide a videotaped walk-through of the shooting, as is Salnick鈥檚 advice in such situations.
But investigators had one key comment from Nagel, captured on the body cam footage of officers who entered the theater seconds after the shooting.
"Where's the gun? Hey, Sarge, was there a gun at all on him?鈥� .
"Nah, he took mine 鈥︹�� Nagel replied. 鈥淗e tried to take mine."
鈥業 will put my gun away鈥�
Minutes earlier, while still in the theater, school police officer Ellen Bango had ordered Phelps to the ground at gunpoint. Phelps complied. But soon after, he became irate, the report said, and he screamed at her about having her gun out.
鈥淟isten, if you can stay calm and stay on the ground, ,鈥� Bango told him. She holstered her weapon and moved back, jumping from the stage to the floor below.
Principal Bennett later told investigators she thought she had a better rapport with Phelps, who had been acting erratically, because she was 鈥渄ressed down鈥� while the school police officer was in uniform.
During an unpredictable series of exchanges over several minutes, she said Phelps calmed down as she asked him to 鈥� of that song for me鈥� or told him, 鈥淗ey, there is nothing to get upset about.鈥�
That changed when the school police officer left, replaced by Nagel dressed in clothes clearly marking him as police.
Phelps and Nagel faced one another on the stage and Phelps charged, Bennett said.
"It looked to me like the officer was trying to take out his handcuffs," she said.Phelps, who was 5-feet-11, 207 pounds, "went at the officer with closed fists" as they struggled and went to the ground, she told investigators.
Phelps landed on top. The sergeant "," Bennett said.
Taken to Gardens hospital the night before
Phelps had been alternating between rage and exuberance since the night before, when a friend who had attended Dreyfoos with Phelps 15 years earlier needed police help to get Phelps to leave his home.
The call, the first of two about Phelps to police that night, came at 6:09 p.m. from the Palm Beach Gardens home of Skyler Meany.
When police arrived, Phelps and Meany were outside. Phelps told police he had been smoking marijuana but that he had a medical marijuana card.
Since he could be considered inebriated, police told Phelps, they couldn鈥檛 just let him drive away.
Body cam footage of the conversation showed Phelps standing for several minutes with and a set of keys outstretched in the other hand, investigators wrote. Phelps dropped the keys, but held his empty hand outstretched.
The officer asked Phelps why he dropped the keys.
鈥淧helps responds 鈥�,鈥� a reference to a 1990s show about life in prison, the investigator reviewing body cam footage wrote.The officer called for medics.
Over the course of an hour, police persuaded Phelps to go with the medics, leaving his company鈥檚 van at Meany鈥檚 house. But the medics needed police help because
鈥淧helps asks the officer if he (the officer) is going to blow his brains out,鈥� the body cam video revealed. 鈥淭he officer replies, 鈥楴o.鈥欌�� In audio from another officer, an investigator writes, 鈥淧helps says he will not lay back (on the gurney) because everyone will think he is crazy. Phelps then says he is a genius.鈥�
Before leaving the scene, one officer asked Meany if Phelps had made threats to harm himself or others, a key factor in determining whether Phelps could be held involuntarily under the state鈥檚 Baker Act. Meany said no.
Phelps combative in ER; police called
The second call from Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. Police were called about a combative patient in the emergency room 鈥� Phelps.
Phelps saw one officer activate the audio of his partner鈥檚 body cam. Phelps uses a pejorative to refer to the officer and adds: 鈥淚鈥檓 everything, the sword and the gun are one in the same. That鈥檚 the answer.鈥�
One of the officers鈥� body cameras picked up a conversation between the ER staff and officers that medics had given Phelps ketamine and 鈥渉e should be out but he has been up the entire time.鈥�
While ketamine is known as a street drug that produces a hallucinogenic high, medics use it in lower doses as a sedative. But studies have shown it can induce psychosis in people with schizophrenia, which means it could have the same effect on someone suffering from psychosis, like Phelps, Delray Beach psychiatrist Dr. Irl Extein said.
鈥淭he simplest explanation is that he was psychotic and stayed psychotic as opposed to ketamine being a factor,鈥� Extein said.There is no evidence in the reports that medical staff considered transferring Phelps, who had bipolar disorder, to a mental health facility.
At one point at the hospital, investigators wrote, Phelps said, 鈥� and others,鈥� referring to an incident at a bar. But no comments are recorded about whether he considered himself a threat at that time.
The hospital released Phelps at 11:30 p.m. to his brother. They went to Meany鈥檚 house, where Phelps picked up the company van, a 2020 Chevrolet Express.
For Phelps鈥� mother, Robbin Jackman, the failure of the hospital to admit her son is where it all began to unravel.
鈥淩omen needed help. He went to seek help. He didn鈥檛 get help. I think he was having a psychotic break,鈥� said Jackman, who is pursuing a license as a mental health counselor.鈥淲henever Romen had something on his mind, he didn鈥檛 sleep. Whenever he didn鈥檛 sleep, he would go into a manic episode. He鈥檇 be super energized,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e was never mean. He was just full of energy.鈥漃hotos posted to social media showed Phelps out partying later that night on Clematis Street.
He came home to his mother鈥檚 house at 2:30 a.m., his mother said, but didn鈥檛 sleep, posting photos on his phone.
鈥淗e called me and asked if he could spend the night,鈥� she said, because he didn鈥檛 have the key to his apartment and didn鈥檛 want to wake his roommate.
Meany said he got a text from Phelps at 4:52 a.m. 鈥淚 would never harm you, you molded me into a phoenix crystal and for that I'd be forever grateful,鈥� he wrote.
Clash with co-worker
Phelps left for work around 7 or 7:30, Jackman said.
She was in another room. 鈥淣o hug or anything,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e just said 鈥楳om, I鈥檓 going. I love you.鈥欌�溾�楲ove you, too,鈥欌�� she replied. 鈥溾�業鈥檒l see you later.鈥欌�� He returned to Meany鈥檚 house, where he had forgotten his wallet.
鈥�,鈥� Meany said. 鈥淗e said, 鈥楾he whole thing seemed like a blackout to me.鈥� He didn鈥檛 remember dealing with the police at my house.鈥漃helps reported to his job as an electrician at . He picked up a co-worker, whom he had never worked with before.
They stopped at a convenience store for rolling papers, the co-worker, later identified as Yeovanny Taveras, told police. Phelps rolled a joint and smoked it, Taveras said.
鈥�,鈥欌�� police quoted Taveras as saying.
They were on Belvedere Road near Florida Mango Road stopped at a red light.
鈥淧helps 鈥榝reaked out鈥� and began punching YT in the head,鈥� the investigator wrote. Taveras got out of the van about 10:30 a.m. He told police he was uninjured despite receiving about 10 blows.
Crashes van, dances 鈥榓 little jig鈥�
from a Palm Beach County Sheriff鈥檚 deputy who called a friend on the West Palm Beach police force just before noon to see if they were looking for a white van with a ladder on the roof, a description of Phelps鈥� van.
The deputy had seen it driving the wrong way on Banyan Boulevard and blowing through a red light to turn south onto Tamarind Avenue 鈥� toward Dreyfoos School of the Arts.
Two minutes later, the first calls came in from the school.
The van smashed through the locked gate on the west side of campus at Tamarind Avenue on the last day of school. It demolished a golf cart and toppled a 40-foot royal palm. , saying the engine 鈥渞oared鈥� before hitting the tree.
Teacher Ryan Toth told police Phelps got out of the van, dusted himself off and began to 鈥溾��
Phelps reached into his pocket for a cigarette, appearing "completely out of it," Toth told police.
Toth told Phelps to step away from the van, worried that lighting a cigarette could spark a fire.Phelps replied: "Or what?"As Toth warned students to sound the code red alarm calling for a lockdown, Phelps wandered off, dancing and skipping his way onto campus, Toth told investigators.
School officer tries to cuff Phelps
School police officer Bango, on campus as a substitute, heard the crash and saw students fleeing. She ran toward the crash. She found the van, the wrecked golf cart and the broken tree. She radioed for medics.
Bango was filling in for a school police officer who knew Phelps from his years on campus. But that officer was out of town, attending his son鈥檚 graduation.
Bango, a school police officer for four years, caught up with Phelps at the student services building. He was talking to the staff. Students later told The Post he appeared calm.
She asked if he was driving the van and, she told investigators, he 鈥渒ind of ignored my question.鈥�
Phelps began to leave, saying he was 鈥済oing outside to smoke a cigarette.鈥�
Bango . She guided him toward the student services front desk. It didn鈥檛 work. Phelps made his way outside, toward students in a courtyard.
He skipped down the walkway while unbuttoning his shirt, Bango told investigators. Bango radioed for backup, calling Phelps Signal 20, code for a mentally disturbed person. She yelled for students to get into a classroom.
Witnesses told police and cameras confirmed that Phelps jumped up, grabbed a metal bar supporting the overhang and did three pull-ups.
A sophomore told The Post that Phelps asked her about her major. When she refused to answer, he continued walking.
.
鈥淗e pulled so hard and almost flung himself on the ground,鈥� she told investigators. She couldn鈥檛 control him.Sandra Bullock, the school鈥檚 treasurer, said she came face to face with Phelps and he hit her left shoulder as he passed. Phelps said. Bullock told Phelps she did not hit him.
Phelps responded, 鈥淣o you didn鈥檛 touch me. She did,鈥� pointing to someone else.
Phelps told Bullock he was 鈥渘ot here to hurt anybody.鈥� While Bullock tried to steer him toward the parking lot, he moved toward the theater building.
He 鈥減ushed me aside a little bit,鈥� she told police.
Phelps had been a theater major at Dreyfoos, where he became interested in electrical work. Even after he graduated, friends said he had worked as an electrician on theater projects and may have viewed the theater as a refuge.
鈥淚t was probably the place that meant more to him than any place in the whole world,鈥� Meany said after the shooting. 鈥淚f he had to choose to depart this world from any place, it would have been there.鈥漃helps flung open the doors to the building that contained the theater and classrooms. He banged on lockers as he walked along the hallway toward the backstage entrance.
Two students took shelter in a bathroom. One said Phelps shouted, 鈥� I need my strings!"
Phelps flipped 鈥榯o a different person鈥�
Phelps entered the theater through a rear door.
He went on stage and sat down to play the piano. Bullock told police she thought 鈥淥K. Play the piano if that is what you want to do because nobody is in here and we are good.鈥�
When Bango and Bennett arrived, Bullock left.
Phelps "," Bango told police. He went on stage and talked about what his life could have been like. He mentioned famous people. He appeared to be talking to an audience, she said.
Phelps sang 鈥淲hat I Did For Love,鈥� which starts, 鈥淜iss today goodbye,鈥� a song from 鈥淎 Chorus Line,鈥� Principal Bennett told investigators.
He yelled at someone who was not there, saying 鈥淲ho the f鈥� do you think you are, why did you do this?鈥�
He asked inappropriate questions, she told police.
When Bango approached, Phelps 鈥�, kicked the piano, screaming and yelling, charged at her a couple of times, charged at me a couple of times,鈥� Bennett said.When he calmed, Bennett asked him to sing a little bit more.
School officer pulls gun, Phelps complies
When Bango drew her weapon, Phelps charged. When she commanded him to stop, Phelps responded, "You want to shoot me, don't you?"
When Bango ordered Phelps to the ground at gunpoint, he complied. He soon began yelling at her about having her gun out.
鈥� You are not going to shoot me. You want to f鈥� me,鈥� she told investigators.
鈥淟isten, if you can stay calm and stay on the ground, I will put my gun away,鈥� Bango told him.She holstered her weapon and stepped down to the aisle below the stage.
She said she had experience as a police officer working with people who have a mental illness.
Bango told investigators she was scared 鈥渂ecause I could feel when I attempted to put him in handcuffs the power he had over me and it was me and the (school principal).鈥� A detective asked her what would have happened if she had fought Phelps.
鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 use any other means, ,鈥� she told him.
Fear of harm is a key factor in deciding whether lethal force is warranted.
At 12:10:31, Bango told police dispatch but 鈥渨ill be irate when someone else shows up.鈥� Dispatch responded that a West Palm Beach officer had just arrived.
Sergeant arrives, school officer leaves
When the first calls came in, Sgt. Nagel had been driving nearby after leaving the courthouse. He wore dark blue, uniform-style pants. His shirt had a yellow/gold imprint of a police badge on the chest with the words West Palm Beach police on the sleeves and the back.
He carried a semi-automatic 9 mm handgun. Since he was off-duty, he had no body camera. He also didn鈥檛 have his department-issued holster, which has a locking mechanism. To pull his gun from his off-duty holster .
Bennett told police the school district at the school but she did not know if any were operating in the theater. Police said they were not.
Nagel radios that he is inside the theater building at 12:10:25. He entered the theater through a backstage door.
Bango saw Nagel enter 鈥渁t the very back of the stage.鈥� She walked up onto the stage and briefed him. He told her 鈥済o outside, ,鈥� a reference to getting backup.
To Bennett, Phelps appeared more agitated with Nagel in the room.
鈥淭here is ,鈥� she said she heard Phelps say. Phelps charged, Bennett said.
鈥淚t looked to me like the officer was trying to take out his handcuffs,鈥� she told investigators.She said Phelps "went at the officer with closed fists." They fought their way to the floor, Bennett told investigators, weeping as she added: " and keep your kids and teachers safe."
She said Nagel tried to cuff Phelps, but Phelps was 鈥渢oo big.鈥� Phelps gained control and was on top with Nagel pinned to the floor, she said. Nagel Less than two minutes had passed since Nagel entered the room.
鈥楽hots fired鈥�
At 12:11:54 p.m., Nagel comes on the radio, the investigation shows. He identifies himself and says: 鈥淪hots fired, one suspect down in, in the theater."
That鈥檚 when officers in the lobby, 鈥渘ot aware of the side entrance used by (Nagel),鈥� got a staffer with a key and entered the theater, the investigation said.
鈥淩andom frustrating circumstances sometimes occur in cases like this,鈥� Aronberg鈥檚 deputy chief investigator, former West Palm Beach detective Mark Anderson, wrote. 鈥� was the locked doors in the Meyer Hall lobby. 鈥淚t is unfair to criticize the officers grouped in the lobby. They had no way of knowing the others mentioned had used side and back entry points,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淲hether the first officer or two in the lobby could have made it inside before the shot was fired had those doors been unlocked will never be known for a certainty.鈥� Bango was with the group of officers entering the theater.
School police Lt. Summer Caudio shouted, 鈥�.鈥�
West Palm Beach officer Hayley Nine, carrying a rifle, led the way.
They saw Nagel on a knee tending to Phelps.
Caudio asked, 鈥淚s he shot?鈥� "Nagel said.Caudio asked him if he was OK. "Yeah, I am all right,鈥� Nagel said. Nine asked for a chest seal, an airtight bandage to be applied over the bullet wound. "Where's the gun,鈥� she said. 鈥淗ey, Sarge, was there a gun at all on him?鈥� "Nah, he took mine,鈥� Nagel said. 鈥�"
Sergeant 鈥榲isibly shaken鈥�
Nagel , Officer Nine told investigators. 鈥淣ine had never seen him like that before,鈥� they wrote.
He appeared ",鈥� West Palm traffic homicide investigator James Ingrassia said. 鈥淚 noticed there was blood on his hands from when he was trying, when he tried to do first aid before somebody else, I guess, relieved him before we came in."
Officer Nine administered aid for two or three minutes. A sergeant applied what is known as an ambu bag, which helped force air into his lungs.
When medics arrived, they pronounced Phelps
Ingrassia escorted Nagel out of the theater. West Palm Lt. Emily Wiggs escorted him to her patrol car and gave him hand sanitizer to clean the blood from his hands.
鈥業 would never have left the room鈥�
Aronberg, whose office successfully prosecuted a Palm Beach Gardens police officer in the 2015 shooting death of motorist Corey Jones, .
Phelps鈥� mother has not sued anyone. She said she has run out of legal options after approaching a half-dozen attorneys with none willing to take her case. It鈥檚 harder for a mother to win a civil suit, she explained, than a spouse or a child. Phelps was not married and had no children.
Court rulings have made it extremely difficult to win jury awards in police-involved shooting cases if the officer has 鈥減robable cause to believe that the suspect poses a threat of serious physical harm.鈥�
, who has gone to court before on behalf of people shot by police, said he wouldn鈥檛 take this case challenging the officer鈥檚 decision to shoot.
鈥淭he likelihood of success is very minimal,鈥� Rodriguez said. 鈥淎ny great defense lawyer for the cops is going to basically say this cop is a hero. He protected the principal from being killed.鈥淚 can鈥檛 have a jury think, 鈥楪eez, if I was in that cop鈥檚 position, what would I do?鈥欌�� and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, agreed that Nagel had no choice.
But he questioned a key decision leading up to the final two minutes: the school police officer鈥檚 decision to leave.
鈥淚 would never have left the room,鈥� Giacalone said. 鈥淚 got the radio, that鈥檚 how I get help. The principal could go open the door. I don鈥檛 need to do that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 as simple as that. You got caught up in the moment and the decision you made was not the right decision but that doesn鈥檛 make it an unfounded shooting.鈥滵NA test results were blacked out in the reports. But the State Attorney鈥檚 Office investigator concluded that the level of Phelps鈥� DNA on Nagel鈥檚 gun was 鈥渟o high that no reasonable person could offer a cogent argument to refute (Nagel鈥檚) explanation 鈥� that he and Phelps were struggling over the handgun.鈥�
Best practices called for the sergeant to 鈥渋solate and contain鈥� while waiting for help, Giacalone said, as long as Phelps was not a threat to anyone.
But Nagel didn鈥檛 know for sure if Phelps had a weapon or would wield a nearby object, like a music stand.
鈥淚f you try and rush these kinds of things, they never work out well,鈥� Giacalone said. But he noted, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e also dealing with someone who has a mental breakdown. They鈥檙e not going to follow directions and they鈥檙e going to fight you.鈥漃olice found a baggie with 4.4 grams of marijuana in Phelps鈥� truck. His blood contained a high level of a psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, Delta 9 THC, police said.
鈥淗ad he been arrested for impaired driving and had his blood tested in Ohio or Nevada, his THC impairment status would have been 12.5 times the legal limit,鈥� investigators wrote.
鈥楾he most dangerous choice he ever made鈥�
The February 2023 report from Aronberg鈥檚 deputy chief investigator, Anderson, offered his broader take as he recommended to the state attorney whether charges should be filed against Nagel.
鈥渢he bottom-line reality is that law enforcement responders must assume the intruder's intentions are violent, to wreak havoc and cause fear,鈥� Anderson wrote.
鈥淲hy else would an adult man crash through a locked perimeter fence, struggle with a uniformed police officer, and make his way to where vulnerable students and school staffers are gathered? No reasonable person, certainly no reasonable officer, could assume the intruder's intent was anything less than hostile.
鈥� he (Phelps) ever made, but it was not profoundly surprising considering his troubled past. The sad truth of this case comes from the undeniable fact that Romen Phelps was seriously mentally ill and was clearly having a break from reality. 鈥淲ith the totality of all the case facts explained in this review, the physical evidence being paramount, the decision by the Involved Officer (Nagel) to use deadly force was justified,鈥� Anderson wrote.
鈥淗e was engaged in a violent fight with who gained the advantage in the life-and-death struggle on the floor of the school's stage. The battle's conclusion was about to result in one finality 鈥� which man would control the handgun. No other option was available to the officer at that moment in time.鈥�
The report did nothing to ease the pain for Phelps鈥� mother, Jackman.
鈥淗e was acting like something was wrong because something was wrong,鈥� she said. 鈥淚nstead of trying to calm him down, I think, they were just egging him on.鈥�
This story was originally published by , a SA国际传谋 News partner, in partnership with the Palm Beach Post.
