Oakland Homicide Suspect Shoots Himself During Central Coast Standoff
SANTA MARIA, Santa Barbara County (CBS SF) – The suspect in a fatal shooting in East Oakland on Thursday morning has been admitted to a hospital in Santa Barbara County with a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a standoff with officers there Friday, Santa Barbara County sheriff's officials said.
The suspect is wanted by Oakland police for the fatal shooting of a 30-year-old man at a live-work space in the 1000 block of 22nd Avenue, west of Interstate Highway 880 and near the Embarcadero and the Oakland Estuary, at about 10:05 a.m. Thursday, according to Santa Barbara County Sheriff's officials.
The homicide victim's name is being withheld until next of kin is notified.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said that around 4:45 a.m. Friday it received information from the Santa Maria Police Department and the California Highway Patrol that the Oakland homicide suspect was potentially in the Santa Maria area in their county and was believed to be armed and dangerous.
Sheriff's deputies located the suspect's white van at a truck stop off of U.S. Highway 101 and Betteravia Road at about 5:45 a.m. today, but when the suspect spotted the deputies he refused to come out and barricaded himself inside the van, sheriff's officials said.
Sheriff's deputies and Santa Maria police officers established a perimeter around the location and the sheriff's hostage negotiation and special enforcement teams responded to the scene, as did Santa Maria's SWAT team and personnel from the Santa Maria Fire Department and American Medical Response.
CHP and Caltrans personnel assisted with traffic control and road closures and people who were inside the adjacent Pappy's Restaurant, Chevron gas station and truck stop area were evacuated, according to sheriff's officials.
Negotiators made contact with the suspect and tried for several hours to try and talk him into surrendering peacefully, but at about 9:15 a.m. he fired a single shot inside the van, sheriff's officials said.
The suspect was injured as a result of the self-inflicted gunshot wound and deputies and officers didn't discharge their firearms, according to the sheriff's office.
After the suspect shot himself, sheriff's personnel used less-lethal projectiles to break the van's windows in order to see into the vehicle, sheriff's officials said.
The suspect was then safely removed from the vehicle by law enforcement and transported by helicopter to a local hospital, where he's being treated for significant injuries, sheriff's officials said. His condition is unknown at this time.
The suspect's name isn't being released at this time because of the Oakland Police Department's ongoing investigation into Thursday's homicide.
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