(STOCKTON, Calif.) — A shirtless man screaming and wielding a handgun was fatally shot by police after he charged at several officers and refused to put down his gun outside the police headquarters building in Stockton, California, authorities said.
The police-involved shooting began around 8:30 p.m. local time Wednesday when the Stockton Police Communications Center began receiving reports that an armed assailant, who was not immediately identified, was firing a gun outside the headquarters building, Stockton police said in a statement on Thursday.
Six Stockton police officers charged out of the building’s front door and confronted the alleged shooter in the parking lot, according to the statement.
“The suspect was screaming and armed with a firearm. The officers told the suspect to get on the ground and drop the gun,” according to the police statement.
The man initially complied and got on the ground, but allegedly refused to drop his firearm, which police described as a Colt semiautomatic pistol, according to the statement.
As officers approached the man, he allegedly stood up and pointed his weapon at the officers, police said.
“Five officers fired their service weapons, shooting the man,” according to the police statement.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
“For a while, before they (the officers) were forced to fire, they were ordering the person to drop the gun and it wasn’t until he charged right toward them that they opened fire,” Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones said during a news conference Wednesday night.
Jones said several civilians were in the police department parking lot at the time of the shooting.
No officers or bystanders were injured in the incident.
The officers involved in the shooting were identified as Nicole Williams, Nicholas Frayer, Hao Tran, Seth Powell and Ruben Rillon. Officials said three of the officers have been on the police force since 2019, one since 2017 and one joined the department last year.
The Stockton Police Department, the California Department of Justice and the San Joaquin district attorney’s office are conducting a joint investigation of the shooting.
“I have not seen anything like this,” Jones said. “I’ve been here nearly 30 years with Stockton PD, nearly 10 years as police chief, and for somebody to come right into the police department like this and fire the weapon, and then charge right at the officers with the weapon is very unique.”
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