BART Police Shoot, Kill Knife-Wielding Drunk at Civic Center - Officer Had Taser
One of the two BART police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a knife-wielding man at San Francisco's Civic Center station on Sunday night was equipped with a Taser but didn't use it, BART's police chief said Monday.
Chief Kenton Rainey said at a news conference at BART headquarters in Oakland Monday morning, however, that it appears the shooting was justified.
"When confronted with deadly force, (an officer) can choose to use a gun or not," Rainey said. BART officers and San Francisco police are working on separate but parallel investigations into what happened Sunday night at 9:46 p.m. when one of the two BART officers shot the man on the platform at the Civic Center station, Rainey said.
BART officials had received reports around 9:30 p.m. of a white man wearing a tie-dye shirt and green military fatigue pants with an open container of alcohol -- which is illegal in a BART station. A call into BART dispatch said the man was drunk and "wobbly on the platform," Rainey said.
Two officers -- one white, the other Asian -- arrived at the Civic Center station on a train from the Millbrae direction at 9:45 p.m., and a confrontation occurred between the suspect and officers.
Rainey said the suspect, estimated to be between 30 and 50 years old, was armed with a knife and a broken alcohol bottle he was wielding as a weapon. A minute after the confrontation began, one officer used his service weapon to shoot the man.
One of the officers was carrying a Taser at the time, Rainey said. He did not say whether the officer who fired his gun was the same one carrying the Taser.
Medical personnel performed CPR on the man, who was shot in his front torso area. He was then transported to San Francisco General Hospital where he was pronounced dead around 10:45 p.m., Rainey said. His name has not yet been released.
One of the officers suffered minor cuts to his arms but was otherwise uninjured, and no one else was hurt in the shooting, Rainey said.
4 Richmond Shootings Leave 3 Dead, 3 Injured
Four separate shootings within several hours killed three men and injured three others in the Richmond area on Sunday night, according to Richmond police and the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.
One of those victims was identified as 28-year-old Ray Anthony Hutson Jr., of North Richmond, sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said.
Richmond police responded to the first shooting at about 8:30 p.m. near the intersection of Ohio Avenue and South 39th Street, Richmond police Lt. Bisa French said.
Arriving officers found a man suffering from gunshot wounds.
He was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, French said. Just before 10:30 p.m., the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office received word of a fatal shooting in the 100 block of West Ruby Avenue in unincorporated North Richmond, sheriff's Lt. Vic Fernandez said. Hutson, who was in his 20s, was found lying on the sidewalk.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, Fernandez said. A second victim, also man in his 20s from North Richmond, was taken to a hospital by helicopter. Lee said Monday morning that the second man was reported to be in critical condition.
Then, shortly after 11 p.m., Richmond police responded to a homicide in the 3200 block of Center Avenue. A 19-year-old man was shot and killed in his car as he was preparing to leave after visiting friends in the neighborhood, French said.
The last homicide was reported at the intersection of MacDonald Avenue and First Street at about 11:15 p.m., she said.
A 27-year-old man was fatally shot, and another man also suffered injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening, French said. It is too early to tell whether any of the shootings are related, French said.
Investigators are interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence at the various crime scenes, she said.
Body of Santa Rosa Man Found in Russian River
Emergency officials found the body of a Santa Rosa man who drowned while swimming near a Monte Rio beach Monday afternoon, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.
The body of 30-year-old Juan Martinez Leon was discovered in the middle of Russian River, in about 14 feet of water, at around 8:30 p.m. Monte Rio fire officials and Sonoma County deputies responded to the beach, located near state Highway 116 at Bohemian Highway, at around 2:20 p.m. in response to reports of a drowning, sheriff's officials said.
Responders learned that Leon and a woman had been swimming in the river when they unknowingly entered deeper water.
The current carried them downstream and the woman reportedly struggled to stay afloat. The woman told emergency officials that Leon helped her into a rescuer's kayak before he slipped underwater.
The Marin County sheriff's dive team was brought in to assist with the search for Leon. Leon's family was at the scene when he was found and they positively identified his body, sheriff's officials said.
Rohnert Park Fire Affects 12 Families
When a fire tore through an apartment building in Rohnert Park Monday afternoon, 12 units were damaged, affected an equal number of families, a Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety lieutenant said.
The fire at 6930 Commerce Blvd. was reported at 4:36 p.m., was at least a second-alarm fire, and took more than an hour to control, according to a public safety dispatcher.
Lt. Jeff Taylor said that cause of the fire remained under investigation.
One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion and was later released, Taylor said. No other injuries were reported. The American Red Cross is providing assistance to the affected families.
Grease Fire Erupts at San Jose Red Robin
Restaurant patrons and employees at one San Jose Red Robin escaped harm when a cooking grease fire broke out Monday night, a fire captain said.
Calls from the Eastridge Mall restaurant's alarm company came in to the fire department at 7:19 p.m., according to a San Jose fire dispatcher, and a subsequent call from the business reported a fryer fire.
The fire, which was contained to the eatery's kitchen, was extinguished within an hour, the dispatcher said. According to fire Capt. Michael Van Elgort, no one was injured.
CHP: Plane Made Emergency Landing on I-280 Due to Mechanical Failure
The California Highway Patrol Monday released a few more details about the emergency landing of a small aircraft on northbound Interstate Highway 280 on Sunday.
The pilot, Scott Bohannon, 53, of San Mateo, was forced to land on the highway north of Farm Hill Boulevard after the plane suffered a mechanical failure, according to the CHP.
Bohannan had taken off from the San Carlos Airport on a test flight and was on his way back when the mechanical failure occurred, CHP Officer Art Montiel said.
Bohannon radioed the airport as he was landing. The CHP began to receive reports at 7:13 p.m. that a small aircraft had landed on the highway.
As officers were responding, the airport also contacted the CHP about the incident.
The plane's landing gear struck the roof of a 2009 Mercedes coupe driven by Wendy Kwon, 47, of Sausalito, that was also traveling north directly below the landing aircraft, CHP officials said.
Kwon was alone in the car. The rear window of the car was broken, the roof was dented and the car was towed away from the scene, but there were no injuries.
The plane, a 1975 Cessna, landed safely and was able to come to a stop on the highway's shoulder.
Traffic was light and was only moderately affected. The plane was towed to the airport.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the plane was conducting a photo mission when it lost engine power.
Fire Burns in Pleasant Hill, No Injuries
A two-alarm house fire burned in Pleasant Hill Monday afternoon, but no one was injured, a fire dispatcher said. The blaze was reported at 1:20 p.m. in the 100 block of Julian Way.
When firefighters arrived, the residents were outside, a Contra Costa County Fire Protection District dispatcher said. Seven engines were dispatched to the scene.
The extent of the damage was not yet known, the dispatcher said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Sailboat Capsizes Off of Benicia Coast
A small sailboat capsized off the coast of Benicia Monday morning, sending its two occupants overboard, a fire captain said.
Two civilian vessels offered assistance, ferrying the stranded sailors to the shore using a fishing boat and a jet ski, Capt. Todd Matthews said.
The Benicia Fire Department responded shortly after the 15-foot vessel capsized at around 10:35 a.m., and one of the two men on board was transported to a hospital where he was treated for minor hypothermia.
Neither man was seriously injured.
The boat was still afloat in the waters off of First Street early Monday afternoon.
First responders were unable to tow the boat back to shore, and tied it to a stationary object to be dealt with later, Matthews said.
Richmond Police Officer Transporting Suspect Crashed on Highway 4
A Richmond police officer transporting a suspect to the county jail Monday morning lost control and crashed on state Highway 4 in Hercules, a California Highway Patrol officer said.
The crash happened at about 10:50 a.m. on eastbound Highway 4 just east of Interstate Highway 80, near Willow Avenue.
CHP Officer Kevin Bartlett said it appears the man being transported became combative inside the car, which may have contributed the crash.
He did not have details on the crash but said a Honda Accord was also involved.
Two people were sent to hospitals, including one who was taken to John Muir Medical Center with minor injuries.
The crash initially blocked lanes, but the roadway was cleared just before noon.
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