Officials are promising a thorough investigation into an incident this morning involving BART and Oakland police officers fatally shooting a knife-wielding man in the city’s Fruitvale district, according to a prepared statement from the Oakland Police Department.
At 8:12 a.m., police received a 911 call that a man was armed with knives in the 3200 block of East 12th Street, Oakland police Officer Jeff Thomason said.
Oakland police responded to the area and notified BART police as a courtesy since the man was reported to be near the Fruitvale BART station, Thomason said.
Two BART police officers who happened to be in the area spotted a man matching the description of the suspect and tried to stop him.
The man ran away from the officers to 34th Avenue where an Oakland police officer, who had arrived in the area, tried unsuccessfully to shoot him with a Taser gun, Thomason said.
The suspect ran north on 34th Avenue, then turned west on East 16th Street, and then south on 33rd Avenue where another Oakland police officer shot the man with a Taser gun, but it did not appear to have an effect on him, according to Thomason.
Officers said the man was holding a knife in each hand and charged at the officers, who opened fire on the suspect. Three Oakland and two BART police officers shot the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene, Thomason said.
The man has not been identified, but was a Hispanic man believed to be between 35 and 40 years old, according to Thomason.
No officers were injured in the incident, he said.
Oakland homicide detectives, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, and the internal affairs units of the Oakland and BART police departments are conducting administrative investigations into the shooting, Thomason said.
“The BART Police Department is cooperating fully with the Oakland Police Department who has the lead in the investigation into today’s officer involved shooting,” said Bob Franklin, BART Board of Directors Vice President, and BART Board member Carole Ward Allen in a prepared joint statement. “We have immediately launched a separate but parallel administrative investigation as well to ensure this incident is thoroughly investigated in a transparent manner.”
Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums also issued a statement following today’s shooting.
“It is extremely important that we as a community continue to work together in order to provide a safe and secure environment. Therefore, a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding this death has begun,” he said.
Anyone with information concerning this incident is urged to contact the Oakland Police Homicide Section at (510) 238-3821.
