San Leandro Police Release Details In Confrontation That Left Man Dead
SAN LEANDRO (CBS SF) - San Leandro police on Wednesday evening released more information about an officer-involved shooting a day earlier that left a 56-year-old man dead.
Officers had initially responded at about 4:05 p.m. Tuesday to a 911 call from someone in the 1900 block of North Boulevard who reported that his neighbor appeared intoxicated, was wielding a machete and hitting a tree with it, and at one point dropped his pants and exposed his genitals to small children, police said.
The caller told dispatchers that the man, who he identified by name, made comments that he would "kill the police" if they were called, police said.
The first officer arrived at 4:11 p.m. and witnessed the man, whose name is not yet being released, still holding the machete. Additional officers arrived and all gave the man commands to stop and drop the machete, according to police.
The man refused and continued to walk away toward a home in the 600 block of Martin Boulevard. The officers continued to tell the man to stop and drop the weapon and he eventually threw it in the air several feet, with it landing in the front yard of a nearby home, police said.
The man then walked to the front porch of a home and faced the officers, who saw an older woman sitting on the porch a short distance away. The officers instructed the woman to come off the porch and continued to negotiate with the man.
As officers began to approach the sidewalk in front of the home, police said the man raised what officers believed to be a gun in his hand and pointed it toward them while shouting a challenging comment that included profanity, police said.
That action prompted an officer, a nine-year veteran of the department, to fire a shot at the man, striking him in the upper body. He dropped the object, which was later determined to be a piece of wood similar in size and color to a handgun, according to police.
Officers then approached and began life-saving measures but the man was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. No firearm or other weapon was found.
San Leandro police and the Alameda County District Attorney's Office are conducting separate investigations into the case.
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