Full Notification

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Investigators are releasing the latest information about the officer involved shooting that occurred yesterday at about 6:00 AM in the 2400 block of W. Steele Ln. Santa Rosa. At 5:58 AM three SRPD officers responded to a call of a resident acting crazy. The Spanish speaking caller, with the use of a translation line service wasn’t able to tell dispatchers too much information other than asked for a rapid response. A second person got on the phone with dispatch and was crying. This person said someone in the home had a small laceration and was in need of medical attention.

Timeline:

The first SRPD officer arrived at 6:03, followed by two other officers at 6:05 AM. At 6:12 AM officers asked dispatch to send another unit and that the suspect was found with a knife. At 6:15 AM an officer radioed that a Taser was deployed and was ineffective. At 6:17 AM a SRPD patrol sergeant arrived on scene. At 6:18 AM an officer radioed that shots were fired.

What we know:

This home was occupied by numerous residents at the time of this incident. The home houses several different families. At least two children were home at the time of this incident in a different portion of the residence. One person with a laceration was found in the home and safely evacuated to an awaiting ambulance. This person was transported to a local hospital to be treated for the injury.

The agitated resident was found in a bedroom, under a mattress and was armed with a 12” sharp kitchen knife. A Taser was deployed along with pepper spray in an attempt to disarm the man however less-lethal options weren’t effective. It isn’t known how many times the Taser was activated or the duration of time the Taser was activated. This information will be downloaded from the Taser and available later.

The officers attempted to talk to the man to deescalate the situation for several minutes. The man was described as Hispanic but was able to converse with the officers in English. After several minutes of negotiations, the man advanced on the officers with the knife in his hand. One officer shot the man several times. The amount of shots fired, the amount of times and location the man was struck will be determined in the course of the investigation.

The man went down and officers rendered first aid however the man died at the scene. Residents of the home were evacuated from the residence and were later interviewed.

A team of approximately 20 detectives were called in to investigate the incident which comprised of neighborhood canvassing, witness interviews, authoring and serving search warrants, crime scene examination and evidence collection.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday morning. The deceased man’s identity and age is not being released at this time. Officers were wearing body cameras that were activated during the incident. Further information will be released as it is learned.