Union City Lockdown Continues, Possible 2nd Suspect
UNION CITY (CBS SF) -- Hours after a lock-down began on a residential Union City street on Thursday, a tactical team was still trying to negotiate with someone in a home they have surrounded and neighbors were still instructed to remain inside.
A suspected burglar who fired shots at police, prompting an extensive search and the lengthy lock-down near Darlene Way and Jean Drive, surrendered to Union City police earlier on Thursday, a police lieutenant said.
As of 7 p.m., the tactical team had surrounded the home where the shooting occurred because they believe there may be an additional suspect inside.
SWAT teams, helicopter crews and K9 units spent hours pursuing the first suspect, while police shut down several streets in the area, Union City police Lt. Ben Horner said.
Police ordered residents to stay indoors during the manhunt, which ended around 5:25 p.m. when the suspect turned himself in a few doors down from the site of the shooting, Horner said.
The suspect, who surrendered earlier in the vicinity of the home where the shooting happened, did not appear to be injured, he said.
Police are in the process of identifying the suspect, Horner said, and officers planned to continue going door-to-door and searching the area to make sure residents are safe.
Horner did not say whether the weapon was recovered.
As of 7 p.m., roads in the area were still blocked.
The incident started at about 10:15 a.m., when Union City police received a report of a burglary in that neighborhood. Residents of the burglarized house were upstairs when they heard a knock at the door and then heard glass breaking, Horner said.
When the residents came downstairs, they saw a male intruder. He was startled and ran away, Horner said.
Neighbors called police and reported seeing a man running through backyards and jumping over fences, he said. Officers arrived and began investigating the burglary, and found a person of interest on Darlene Way.
When the officers approached the man, he pulled out a handgun and fired at them and the officers fired back, Horner said. No officers were struck by the gunfire, he said. The man dodged the shots and ran away from police.
Residents were then ordered to stay in their homes and some people were evacuated, Horner said.
Police also evacuated two children from the site of the shooting, Horner said.
Two buses from Union City Transit were sent to the area to evacuate some residents, spokeswoman Rosanna Smith said. One bus was dispatched at 1:45 p.m. and another was sent about an hour later, she said.
Police also evacuated several elderly residents around 5 p.m. from the Rose Residential Care Facility and took them to a nearby community center.
Motorists were advised to avoid the area as Jean Drive, Darlene Way and Rose Way were all on police lockdown.
The suspect was described as a black man about 6 feet 5 inches tall, wearing a long white shirt and dark pants, Horner said.
Police have taken another person who may be connected to the incident into custody. He was found hiding in a shed on Darlene Way. The man was transported to a hospital to be treated for a dog bite inflicted by one of the K9 units, he said.
"Our number-one concern is the safety of the residents," Horner said. "SWAT team officers are going door-to-door and yard-to-yard to find the suspect."
Lois Nguyen, a resident of Darlene Way, said around 1 p.m. that police had surrounded a home three houses away from hers and were pointing their guns at it.
She said she was at home with her husband late this morning when she saw a man run into her backyard.
"My husband saw him and opened the patio door and said, 'What are you doing in my backyard?'" Nguyen said.
The man then jumped over a fence into her neighbor's yard and disappeared, she said. She described him as a tall young black man with a thin build wearing a white T-shirt.
Nguyen said police arrived in the neighborhood a short time later and shut down the street. She said she went to the front yard at one point to water her plants and police told her to go back indoors.
The Nguyens were not the only ones who spotted someone strange crossing through their backyard.
Donald Tran, 33, an accountant from Fremont, said he left work around noon and rushed to his parents' house on Darlene Way after reading about the incident online. His parents, a couple in their late 50s, were at home with their infant grandchildren, Tran said.
He received a call from his father who said that he found out about what was happening in the neighborhood only after going into his backyard and encountering one of the suspects.
The man quickly jumped over a fence and fled when Tran's father asked the suspect what he was doing in his backyard.
Tran said his parents had lived in the house for nearly 20 years and they have never experienced something like this.
"I feel kind of violated," Tran said. "Your house is supposed to be safe. I always felt like this neighborhood was safe, but this incident kind of changes things."
Alameda County sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly said the sheriff's office assisted in the search for the shooting suspect. He said the department had sent a K9 unit and two deputies to the scene.
Police from Newark, Fremont and BART, as well as Alameda County sheriff's deputies, all provided assistance.
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