88-Year-Old Man Killed In West Sacramento Police Shooting Was Former Police Department Employee
WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Police have identified the suspect in a West Sacramento officer-involved shooting as an 88-year-old man who was a former West Sacramento police volunteer.
West Sacramento police say officers shot and killed 88-year-old Robert Coleman at 3 a.m. Saturday morning, after they responded to a report of an African-American man in his 30s armed with a gun. West Sacramento police described seeing a man get out of a vehicle armed with a gun, and the shooting ensued.
People who live on his block are stunned by the revelation their 88-year-old neighbor died in a police shooting.
"I am shocked," one neighbor said. "I'm shocked, I don't know, he's a very good man. I don't know what he would be doing in that situation."
On Monday, the West Sacramento Police Department said Coleman had a long history as an employee with West Sacramento, working as a code enforcement officer in the 1990s, then as a parking enforcement officer, and finally as a police volunteer before retiring in 2004.
According to his family, he had recently been struggling with mental illness and had suicidal thoughts, police said.
A statement West Sacramento police released reads in part, "Mr. Coleman's condition, although relevant, will not impact the investigative efforts to scrutinize the actions of the involved officers."
Officers involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Black Lives Matter announced it will be holding a vigil to honor the life of Robert Coleman Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the intersection of the deadly shooting, Poplar and Merkley Avenues.
No officers were injured in the incident.
