A domestic violence suspect was shot and killed by Pleasanton police after a lengthy standoff Thursday, mortally wounded by officers who opened fire when he was seen lunging at an officer with a knife.
Police have yet to identify the man, who had barricaded himself inside a ground floor unit of The Galloway apartments for several hours before police moved in, breaking a window and deploying diversionary flash-bang devices while attempting to get the man outside and into custody.
Officers were originally called to The Galloway just before noon, taking a call from a woman who said she was a victim of domestic violence.
“Two officers were involved in that (shooting) and are uninjured,” police Lt. Eric Silacci said. “We can confirm the suspect is deceased. We’re not releasing the officers’ names at this time. We are in the process of conducting our investigation. The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office is also on scene and conducting their investigation. We know the public wants to know more, which is why we’re moving quickly to gather facts.”
What a tragic ordeal for everyone.
My prayers for everyone involved.
No mention in this report of anyone being with the domestic violence suspect during the standoff. Was he alone?
Believe he was alone in the unit. Victim, his wife, had gotten away from him.
I am confounded and perplexed at the violence employed in 2021 and now 2022 by police. It is embarrassing. Fatal police killings continue upward (per the Washington Post) despite increased recent public awareness of the alarming number of killings. Flash bangs will certainly bring things to a conclusion quicker. Embarrassing. Are current police practices working for us as a community? Does anyone feel safer? Has anything changed in policing? Was this a successful outcome?
Interesting questions. Look forward to seeing some answers, hopefully from LEOs with skin in the game. From what we’ve seen of this one it looked like officers were preparing for a breach – hence the diversionary tactics of the flash-bangs and window-breaking. Introduce a chemical agent, then swarm the subject behind ballistic shields. In this case it looks like the suspect pre-empted that by emerging – armed – and making a move towards police. Interesting questions, as we said…
In regards to David’s comments, I’m confounded that one doesn’t realize that a police officer employs deadly force as a last resort… the last thing any of them wants to do is have to end an encounter with shooting to stop a threat. Rapidly evolving situations don’t always allow for the tactics like flash bangs as he suggested. I personally don’t feel safer but it has more to do with politicians than police – a discussion for another day…
“deploying diversionary flash-bang devices while attempting to get the man outside and into custody.”
Flash bangs WERE used, John.
While I can understand a time and place for them. My point was that they can introduce chaos/confusion into a situation where patience is still an option, accelerating a dazed confrontation rather than defusing it. This is an example of the aggressive policing that leads to so many killings in this country since police are trained to use lethal force so readily. In 2022, is this the best we can do?
Hi, yep, definitely meant to stun/confuse and hopefully keep someone from going for/using a weapon. We’re still holding out for a variation of the “Phaser” used in Star Trek episodes. Until then, we guess, they’ll use the tools at hand.
It’s never easy to tell from one view. The distance did not look great between the officers and the suspects, more distance means other less lethal devices can be used before firearms. Always a tough choice for officers, but those that have never faced such a situation are offering uninformed opinions. 108RS, formerly with Los Angeles County Sheriff.
Having watched the entire Pleasanton video, unfortunately the suspect did not obey the commands of the police and the distance to them closed very rapidly, they had no choice but to fire. I had several people with knives in tense situations, I was lucky that they dropped the weapons. Yes, the local California officials and courts have put us at greater risk. 108RS
Three standoffs since Saturday. All ramped up pretty quickly with mention of or production of a weapon (AR15, gun, knife). One ends with suspect taking his own life, one ends without injury, one ends with suspect killed by police — firing in self defense. Unusual or do they happen with this frequency?
Does David have any suggestion’s what the LEO’s should have done? If someone came at you with a knife, what would you do? The perpetrator most likely had a violent history, & the deceased didn’t learn his lesson’s before. Behavior like that has an expiration.
Well, I was gratified to read in a different story that the lengthy standoff was about 3 hours, so kudos to the officers for that level of patience. During that wait the suspect used the time to get methed up rather than sober up and rationally evaluate his situation. So, inevitably police are faced with risky choices when confronting mentally ill and/or intoxicated suspects. Killings result on a regular basis, and, per the Post, a rising basis.
Clearly the tools we have are not working from the standpoint of justice under law or police safety. Police are not executioners under our law, and yet they are often in harm’s way.
I am not an inventor, so I look to SciFi for clues. Tazers are not Star Trek phasers it turns out, and “rubber bullets” are not as effective as the gooey blobs fired at Mr. Incredible when immobilizing a suspect. Have launched nets or bolos been tried? No idea? But, it seems the lives of these people and the principles of due process count for nothing under this system of policing. The majority of us are unaffected by it, but it is the lack of effort to improve this that troubles me the most, the complacency. The militaristic approach to policing has been largely accepted, and officers are taught to fire guns at center mass of the targets with devastating results for all concerned.
Tazers were introduced about 30 years ago and made somebody a lot of money. That’s old technology. Surely, we can do better this century.
I think david should go on a ride along in East Oakland to get a grasp of the problem. Of course with ride alongs, the officers always avoid dangerous situations, lest a civilian get hurt. 108RS
Unless the civvy was a reporter, in which case they rode in fast and hard and looking for a chance to scare the Peter out of the reporter.
Afraid he forced the issue. Couldn’t tell from the angle but was that closest officer armed with a less lethal munition ( red strap). Have to say that if someone came for me with a knife in their hand I’d probably do the same if I had a weapon. Tragic incident for everyone involved. Hope the officers get some help too.