Interim police chief Gary Kirby says a woman on her way to the ATM at the Wells Fargo Bank on the 1900 block of Broadway noticed a man pacing with a gun. She stayed in her car and made a call to 911.
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Police immediately responded and set up a perimeter around the man. Chief Kirby says the 30 year old Hispanic man was agitated, unstable and well-known to police officers. "They've known him since he was eight years old," said Chief Kirby. The man also had an extensive criminal past.
A specialized street crime team that has crisis intervention training started talking with the suspect. They repeatedly asked him to drop his gun. Witness Ignacio Jimenez says the suspect refused to comply and then appeared to grab something from under his sweater. Cellphone video shows the suspect raising his arms and firing a gun pointed at police. Officers immediately returned fire. No officers were injured. The suspect was killed.
Jimenez is a soldier. He said he expects gunfire at the front line, but not near his front yard. "I didn't expect there to be a shooting. I thought the guy was going to comply and they were going to arrest him and that was going to be that. So it escalated very quickly," Jimenez added.
Police said there were no suspects outstanding and that there was no further risk to the community.
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Chief Kirby says the woman's call to 911 could have prevented a crime. "It's unknown if he was waiting for someone to come there and commit a crime," said Chief Kirby.
Streets around the bank were closed for hours. The District Attorney's office is investigating the shooting.