State officials will investigate the case of a man killed by police last week in Antioch — a probe spurred by a state law that governs the killing of unarmed people by police, even though the man reportedly fired dozens of rifle rounds at motorists and officers during an hours-long standoff.
The state Attorney General’s office announced Monday that it would perform an independent review of the incident. Multiple law enforcement sources told Bay Area News Group the reason: A firearm had not been located in the charred remains of the house the man set ablaze and barricaded himself inside before his death.
Police have not identified the officers who shot and killed the 55-year-old man Friday evening; the man’s identity had also not been released by Monday evening. In a news release, authorities said the man fired a firearm “approximately 30 times” at officers and area residents during the standoff on the 3800 block of Dove Court.
“Once the investigation has been completed, it will be turned over to the California Department of Justice’s Special Prosecutions Section within the Criminal Law Division for independent review,” a news release from the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. The attorney general cited AB 1506, a new state law that allows the agency to take over investigations into police-related deaths of unarmed people.
The incident started around 1 p.m. Friday, when police were called to the home on reports of gunshots. Authorities said the man was donning armor and wearing camouflage, and walked down the street as he fired at random targets.
Police said the man had been firing a rifle at cars on the street and eventually shot down a police drone. He also set a house on fire before barricading himself inside with his rifle once authorities arrived. No one else was inside the house.
Multiple SWAT officers shot and killed the man at around 7 p.m. An Antioch police news release doesn’t identify which officers fired their duty weapons, nor does it say what prompted them to fire at that time.
During the seven-hour standoff, the man rebuffed attempts to get him to surrender, according to a statement released by Antioch interim police Chief Anthony Morefield.
“Antioch Crisis Negotiation Team made numerous attempts to contact the suspect, to de-escalate the situation and negotiate a peaceful resolution. CNT members asked the subject to exit the house unarmed, so he could be taken into custody without being harmed,” Morefield said. “The subject refused to exit peacefully and disconnected with CNT several times and continued to fire rounds from inside the home.”
No officers or civilians were struck by gunfire during the incident.
Source: www.mercurynews.com