Full Notification

Wednesday, June 12th, 2019 - San Leandro, Ca
 
San Leandro Police detectives, along with the Alameda County District Attorney's Office continue to investigate yesterday’s event that led to a nine-year veteran of the San Leandro Police Department to utilize deadly force against a 56 yr-old man.
 
The incident occurred yesterday afternoon at 4:05 p.m., when San Leandro police received a 9-1-1 call from a resident in the 1900 block of North Blvd. The caller advised police dispatchers of a man who was wielding a machete in the middle of the street.
 
The caller knew the man as his neighbor and identified him by name. The caller stated that the man appeared intoxicated and was behaving erratically by hitting a tree with the machete. At one point he dropped his pants and exposed his genitals to small children in the neighborhood.
 
The caller advised police dispatchers that the man made comments that he would "kill the police” if they were called and further stated "he’s not gonna go down without a fight."
 
The first San Leandro Police officer arrived on scene at approximately 4:11 p.m. and witnessed the subject walking in the middle of the street shirtless and still holding the machete. Additional officers began to arrive on the scene, all giving commands to the man to stop and drop the machete.
 
The subject refused to comply with the officers and continued to walk away towards a house in the 600 block of Martin Blvd. The officers continued, giving repeated commands to the subject to stop and drop the machete.
 
Officers used their loud voices and the PA (public address) loudspeaker in their vehicles to give the commands.
 
The subject continued to walk away and eventually discarded the machete by throwing it into the air several feet away, landing in the front yard of a nearby home. The subject then walked to the front porch of a home and stood there facing the officers.
 
Officers saw an older woman sitting on the porch a short distance away from the man. Officers pleaded with the subject to come off the porch and were concerned for the safety of the woman not knowing the subject’s relation to the house or his intentions on the porch.
 
Officers instructed the woman to come off the porch while continuing to negotiate with the subject. Officers discussed a plan to get closer to the house, which included less-lethal intervention measures.
 
As the team of officers began to approach the house, they could not see the subject's hands or if there were any hidden weapons accessible to him. To this point officers tried for approximately six minutes to negotiate with the man; however, he would not comply.
 
Officers began to approach the sidewalk of the home. Suddenly, the subject abruptly stood up and raised what officers believed to be a gun in his hand and pointed it directly towards the officers. The man had a bladed stance and simultaneously shouted a challenging comment that included profanity.
 
At 4:17 p.m., as a result of the man's actions and threatening demeanor, one officer fired one shot at the subject, striking him in the upper body. The man immediately dropped the object he was holding and fell to the porch. Officers approached and immediately began life-saving measures; however, the man was later pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
 
Officers recovered the item the subject was holding and determined it to be a piece of wood that was similar in size and color of a firearm, however, no firearm was found.
 
Per San Leandro Police policy, officers involved in this incident were removed from the scene and replaced by detectives and other uninvolved personnel. Investigators from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office also arrived on scene which is routine for any officer-related shooting.
 
The San Leandro Police Department and the District Attorney's Office will conduct three separate and independent investigations into this incident. This is an on-going investigation as some facts and details are yet unknown.
 
"This is a tragic event for everyone," said San Leandro Police Lieutenant Isaac Benabou. "Our officers never want to be placed in a situation such as this and go to extreme measures to achieve a peaceful outcome. Deadly force is only exercised by an officer in the most extreme circumstances, to protect the officer or others from what the officer reasonably believes would be an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. Yesterday's events are devastating for everyone and we wish to extend our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased and to all others who may have witnessed this unfortunate event.”

At this time the deceased is only described as a 56 yr. old Hispanic male. Although we are confident we know the identity of the individual, we will not release his name until the Alameda County Coroner’s Office can confirm his identity.