Full Notification

Police arrested a man that fired a pellet gun at a staff member working at a neighboring school.  The victim was not struck, and the suspect was booked at the Santa Clara County Main Jail.
 
On Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at about 7:18 a.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call of a neighbor that had fired a BB gun or Airsoft at a staff member, a male in his thirties, on the Stratford School Campus located on the 800 block of North California Avenue.  Palo Alto Police responded immediately and made contact with school staff.  This occurred outside of school hours, and there were no students present at the time of the incident.  Palo Alto Police contacted the neighbor at his residence located in the 800 block of Garland Drive.  After a brief negotiation, the man exited the residence and surrendered to the police without further incident.
 
Through the investigation, it was found that at about 7:10 a.m. a school staff member was walking on the campus when he heard a projectile strike a nearby wall.  The staff member looked in the direction the projectile came from and saw a male subject looking over a fence that separates the campus from an adjacent residence.  The staff member recognized the male subject from prior negative interactions.  Officers also learned that the school had an active restraining order against the suspect.  Police booked 67-year-old Bradford Minkoff of Palo Alto into the Santa Clara County Main Jail.  The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the case and charged Minkoff with assault with a deadly weapon (a felony), willful discharge of a bb device with gross negligence (a misdemeanor), and violation of a protective order (a misdemeanor).    
 
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413.  Anonymous tips can be sent via text message by texting the keyword PAPD and the tip to 847411, or submitted using the "Palo Alto PD Tips" app, which is available via the App Store or Google Play. 

To view this release on the city's website, click here: https://www.paloalto.gov/News-Articles/Police-Department/Police-Arrest-Man-for-Shooting-Pellet-Gun-onto-School-Campus?transfer=16eb8dc8-3be3-4d5b-bfde-b57ae8429fb0