Shawnee Mission still investigating football player’s death. Here’s where it stands

It’s been more than a month since Shawnee Mission Northwest student Ovet Gomez-Regalado passed away after suffering a medical emergency during offseason training, but it’s still not publicly known how he died or whether any action will be taken by the school district.

Emergency responders were called to the school on Aug. 14 and transported the rising sophomore to a local hospital. Gomez-Regalado passed away on Aug. 16. He was 15 years old.

Shawnee Police and the Johnson County medical examiner’s office are jointly investigating Gomez-Regalado’s death, and the Shawnee Mission School District is also conducting an internal investigation. An autopsy has been conducted by the medical examiner’s office, but a final report is not finished.

Shawnee Mission has yet to release any findings surrounding Gomez-Regalado’s death. In previous Star reporting, Shawnee Mission district spokesman David Smith said the district has a “standard protocol” that “would involve following up to understand what happened.”

“It will involve looking at everything that led up to the incident, and how the incident was handled, to see if there is anything that we can learn, in order to prevent future incidents,” Smith previously said.

Emails from The Star asking for updates on the district’s investigation and the protocols used for such an investigation did not provide clear answers, with Smith at first responding that the district did not, in fact, have “a specific protocol for investigating ‘serious incidents.’”

Later, he clarified that, “In a situation like this, we do everything in our power to understand what happened, and why. We talk to everyone, and we look at everything that we can, to get the clearest understanding possible. I don’t see that as being specific, but it is certainly comprehensive.”

The Kansas State High School Activities Association does not investigate student deaths, or assess any disciplinary action. KSHSAA opts to work with the school district and law enforcement when necessary.

In an email, KSHSAA assistant executive director Jeremy Holaday said there is no “set fine or punishment for something of this magnitude.”

“If any investigation shows us that there are breakdowns in procedure or policy, we would want to look at that as how we can improve from our end or did we learn something from a specific situation that our sports medicine advisory committee would want to address,” Holaday said in the email.

Kansas City’s recorded temperature on Aug. 14 was 87 degrees at 5 p.m., and 89 degrees at 6 p.m., according to archived data observed at the downtown airport. Temperatures observed at the Johnson County Executive Airport in Olathe were recorded at 86 degrees at 5 p.m., then 87 at 6 p.m.

As the investigations continue, it’s still not clear what led to Gomez-Regalado’s death, or what actions the school district might take as a result.

The family’s GoFundMe is still active and receiving donations.

Previous reporting from The Star’s Sarah Ritter was used in this article.