Dublin Police Officer Hospitalized After Fatal Suspect Shooting
DUBLIN (KCBS) - A Dublin police sergeant shot and killed a suspect during a violent confrontation early Thursday morning which also left the sergeant hospitalized with head injuries.
The female officer stopped a man with a history of violent behavior who was acting suspiciously outside the Stoneridge Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership off Interstate 680 around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, said Sgt. J.D. Nelson, spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.
When she approached the man, he suddenly began to beat her, Nelson said. "He tried to smash her head into the cement, at which time she took out her service weapon, fired at the suspect and killed him," Nelson said.
The struggle was brief - only three minutes passed between the time the sergeant radioed in that she had spotted a suspicious person and when she reported that she had shot him, he said.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene, and the sergeant was left with a "bloody face and head," Nelson said.
She was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, he said.
"She's been through a hell of a fight," Nelson said. "She was in a fight for her life, she really was."
There were no other police officers there at the time the shooting happened, and it appears the man was alone when the sergeant approached him, Nelson said.
The man was known to local officers, he said.
"He's been arrested many times, mostly for fighting and drunkenness," Nelson said.
The man has been homeless in the past and may still have been a transient, Nelson said. His name has not yet been released.
The sergeant has been placed on paid administrative leave, as is protocol with officer-involved shootings, Nelson said.
The Alameda County District Attorney's Office will be conducting an investigation into the shooting.
The sheriff's office provides contracted police services to the city of Dublin.
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