Man allegedly shoots self at West Oakland BART station
Just witnessed a shooting at West Oakland Bart station. Heard a bang. Then saw 2 cops and a black man on the ground. He...
Posted by Akshay Dodeja on Tuesday, September 1, 2015
September 2, 2015
On Tuesday, Sept. 1, Akshay Dodeja tweeted out a photo at 8:14 p.m. that stated, “Just witnessed a shooting at West Oakland Bart station. 2 police men. 1 black man.” The photo contained two policemen and one man who was on the ground and allegedly shot.
Later that evening BART officials released a press statement that explained a man shot himself in the stomach while he spoke with BART police. BART officers approached the man who was smoking on the West Oakland platform and explained to him that he had to put out his cigarette. After an exchange of words, the unnamed man began to make threats and behaved erratically.
Our information is that he shot himself while grabbing the weapon out of his waistband
The press statement explained that officers made contact with the man, but he resisted violently and reached for his waist, officers tased the suspect, who then shot himself in the abdomen as he attempted to retrieve his weapon.
“Our information is that he shot himself while grabbing the weapon out of his waistband,” said BART Deputy Police Chief Jeff Jennings in a statement to SF Gate. “We don’t know what his motive was, but that’s what we have right now, is that he shot himself. I can’t make the assumption that it was accidental or purposeful. The person was acting erratically and he was resisting violently. So I can’t make that leap of why he pulled the trigger on himself.”
According to the BART press statement, the firearm and the bullet casing were recovered by police at the BART station.
“He was also tazed. I heard a pop then saw man on ground with 2 cops on him. Man yelled “they shot me.. They shot me,” tweeted Dodeja as watched the entire exchange.
BART Police department explained in the press statement that they have been in touch with Alameda County District Attorney, who will be conducting an investigation along with the BART Independent Police Auditor. The two officers involved in the shooting were wearing body cameras and footage is being reviewed according to the press statement.
The suspect was transported to Highland hospital in Oakland, in critical condition and the West Oakland station closed and reopen late Tuesday night.
Editor-in-Chief, Shannon Stroud, contributed to this article.
