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PRESS RELEASE – COMMUNITY ALERT
CITY of SAN MATEO POLICE DEPARTMENT
200 Franklin Parkway, San Mateo, CA 94403
www.cityofsanmateo.org






SAN MATEO POLICE DEPARTMENT - PRESS CONFERENCE SUMMARY
Detailed Summary of Chief Manheimer’s Statement Following Today’s Officer Involved Shooting Incident



In accordance with San Mateo Police Department’s commitment to be as transparent and forthright a Law Enforcement Agency as possible, the following is a summary of Police Chief Susan Manheimer’s statement to the press at today’s press conference, followed by bullet points addressing some of the follow-up questions posed by the press.

This is an open and active investigation – no further information is available from SMPD at this time. Subsequent questions should be directed to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.


Monday February 28th – 5:50 pm at the San Mateo Police Department
200 Franklin Parkway San Mateo, CA

At about 10:30 am on today’s date, San Mateo Police Department officers responded to the CVS Store located at 77 Bovet on a report of an irrational subject acting aggressively toward customers and staff. The subject had left the store on foot. Officers arrived on the scene within minutes, and began an extensive area check of the neighborhood. CVS employees indicated to our staff that the subject displayed a handgun to employees, and had threatened an employee with it.

At 10:49 am, SMPD received an additional call from a resident on Edinburgh Street, who could see an armed subject creating a disturbance on the back porch of an adjacent property. Officers determined that this was the same individual, and immediately focused their efforts on that location. As we began to set up a perimeter to contain the scene and attempt to negotiate with the suspect, arriving officers encountered the suspect – armed with a handgun - in the front yard of his residence on Oak Street.

The suspect pointed a handgun directly at the officers and fired at them. Officers returned fire as the suspect fled to his back yard. An officer in an adjacent yard encountered the armed suspect in the back yard and fired at the suspect, striking him and ending his immediate threat. Emergency medical personnel were notified and responded immediately. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers recovered a .38 cal Smith & Wesson revolver from the suspect. The revolver had shell casings from expended rounds in the cylinder.


Although we await a formal identification from the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office, the subject has been preliminarily identified as Robert Caron, a 35 year-old white male with an extensive history of threats against peace officers, weapons possession, and assaultive and threatening behavior.

Officers were made aware of that information as they responded to the scene, as well as the confirmation both by CVS employees, and a witness neighbor, that the suspect was running into and out of his residence, pointing a handgun and screaming and acting aggressively and in a disturbed manner.

We believe it is always tragic when an armed encounter results in any death, and our condolences go out to the family of the suspect. It is so unfortunate that officers were preparing to negotiate with this armed individual when he shot at the officers precipitating our use of deadly force.
Immediately after the shooting, San Mateo PD initiated the Countywide Officer Involved Shooting Protocol. Assistance and investigators arrived from nearby Belmont Police Department, the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, the San Mateo County Crime Lab, and the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office.


As always with officer involved shooting incidents, San Mateo PD will take part in a three-pronged investigation:
1. San Mateo PD will conduct a criminal investigation into the suspect’s actions in this incident – specifically the shots the suspect fired at officers as well as the threats and brandishing by the suspect to the CVS employees at the Borel Shopping Center and the endangerment to the community.
2. Additionally, as per our Officer Involved Shooting Policy, the San Mateo PD will conduct an administrative investigation into the actions of the officers per our city’s policy.
3. The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office will conduct a parallel and fully independent investigation to determine the lawfulness of the officers’ actions at the scene.
As per our Officer Involved Shooting Protocol, the two officers who contacted this individual, were threatened by him, and fired their weapons in this incident have been placed on standard administrative leave.

Based on follow-up questions –
• We cannot provide any information as to the suspect’s mental health status. We can, however, tell you that we were positioning ourselves to engage in negotiation with the suspect with an on-scene Tactical Negotiator when the suspect escalated the incident by opening fire on the officers. In fact, our Tactical Negotiator made three separate attempts to negotiate with the suspect voice-to-voice from behind a position of cover. Each time, the suspect responded by pointing his weapon at officers, ultimately firing at them.
• The gun located in the possession of the suspect was a .38 caliber, operable Smith and Wesson revolver. This weapon was not a replica gun.
• The two officers involved in today’s shooting have 11 and 13 years of Law Enforcement experience. Both have received Crisis Intervention Training.
• This was an isolated incident – there does not appear to be any ongoing threat related to this incident at either the Borel Shopping Center or in the surrounding neighborhood.




Attached is the original press brief, for reference.

OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING IN SAN MATEO
Preliminary Stasement - Press Conference will be later today (TBA)

The San Mateo Police department is actively investigating an officer involved shooting incident that occurred today between 10:30 and 11am. The shoting occurred in the 1500 block of Oak St. in San Mateo. A single suspect shot at officers. The officers returned fire and the suspect was shot. No officers were injured.

The scene is static - there is no danger in the immediate area. No schools have been locked down.

SMPD is advising people to stay away from the area at this time so that officers and detectives can conduct their investigation.

A press conference will be announced shortly for a time later today. No other information is available at this time.


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Please help us make your neighborhood safer and take a stand against crime. Please report all criminal behavior, join a neighborhood watch program, and help anyone that might fall victim to a crime. If a Neighborhood Watch doesn’t exist on your block, you can start one with help from SMPD. For additional information about the City of San Mateo Neighborhood Watch Program, call Sergeant Dave Norris at (650)522-7626 or visit our web www.cityofsanmateo.org