Officer mistakes a black umbrella for a rifle and opens fire, California police say

mikeyp

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More proof only cops should have gins. And if they shoot at you, don't run away. Good thing they're charging the guy!


A California police officer responding to reports of a man pointing a rifle at people and vehicles Saturday opened fire with an AR-15 when the man brandished what appeared to be a firearm at him, police reported on Facebook.

It turned out to be a black umbrella, Santa Rosa police wrote.

The officer fired three shots, which missed, then tackled the man as he tried to run away in the 12:30 p.m. incident, police wrote on Facebook.

Joshua Oceguera faces charges of criminal threats, assault and brandishing a weapon, said Lt. Dan Marincik of the Santa Rosa Police Department, The Press Democrat reported.

The officer, whom police have not yet named, has been placed on leave and will be questioned this week about the incident, KTVU reported.

Marincik said police will eventually release bodycam video of the incident as required by California law, according to the station.

Before the incident, police had received seven 911 calls reporting a suspicious man whom some callers reported had appeared to point a gun at them, police wrote on Facebook.

When an officer arrived to investigate, Oceguera did not comply with his orders and brandished “what the officer believed was a rifle,” prompting him to open fire, police wrote.

Santa Rosa police asked that anyone with information on the incident contact the Violent Crime Investigations Team at 707-543-3590.
 
Another article(I was googling) this one says he pointed it at the cop, and he didn't get hit but nobody in the area was "seriously injured". So someone must have gotten hit?


SANTA ROSA, Calif. - A Santa Rosa police officer fired three shots at a suspect who brandished what he thought was a rifle, though it turned out that the object was just an umbrella.

Lt. Dan Marinicik said in a news release that the event is being investigated by the department’s violent crimes investigations team. He identified the suspect as Joshua Oceguera, 24. He was arrested on suspicion of making a criminal threat, a felony, and brandishing an imitation firearm, a misdemeanor, jail records show.

As of Monday, he was still in custody on $30,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon. Efforts to determine if Oceguera had an attorney were not immediately successful.

On Saturday, Marincik said that seven people called dispatch on about 12:30 p.m., all reporting a “suspicious individual” near Guerneville Road and Fulton Road. Several callers reported that the person had a gun and was pointing it at people and cars.

When officers arrived, they said the suspect was “non-compliant and at one point brandished what the officer believed was a rifle.”

"We later learned that the item the suspect had brandished was a black umbrella," Marincik said.

Police did not provide body camera video or a photo of the umbrella. "Under AB 748 and SB 1421, any related body worn camera and investigative reports that fall under those categories will be released at a future date," Marincik said in an email, referring to two laws that mandate the eventual release of such information.

The officer fired three rounds from his department-issued rifle, Marincik said. The rounds did not strike the suspect and no one was “seriously injured,” though Marincik did not explain in detail what that meant.

The suspect then ran away from the officer, who chased him and tackled him to the ground a short distance later. The officer took the suspect into custody.

Marincik said the officer, who has less then two years on the force, is on paid administrative leave. The officer will be interviewed this week and the department will likely release his name "in the next day or two."
 
"Compliance" is mandatory in the Orwellian police state. What happened to the days when the LEO would engage the citizen in a normal, conversational manner, using verbal jiu jitsu to de-escalate the situation?

I hope the innocent bystander and Mr. Oceguera wins millions in the lawsuit, and wish that the officer guilty of such egregious conduct could be forced to pay personally until he is ruined and homeless.
 
Seriously........”He was arrested on suspicion of making a criminal threat, a felony, and brandishing an imitation firearm, a misdemeanor, jail records show.”
 
I should probably wait for video or pics of the umbrella, just in case it really did look like a rifle. Still, this is a grown adult walking around pointing an umbrella while yelling "pew pew" and pretending the umbrella is recoiling? Sounds like some kind of mental defective.... he might need to be relocated to some kind of farm for his own safety.
 
Yeah, and where did those rounds go?

Shh.

Don't ask uncomfortable questions, like why is the name of the cop not released? I mean, the guy with the raingear was outed and charged, while the Trained Professional who sent three rounds into the aether is anonymous.

I wonder if you know who (who reveals no personal details, like his/her patrol area) will explain how this was a good shoot.
 
I wonder if you know who (who reveals no personal details, like his/her patrol area) will explain how this was a good shoot.

It was reasonable because he thought it was a gun! Duh! What if it really was a gun and he didn’t shoot? Untold number of deaths.

And he patrols the woods in search of fishermen with fish an inch too small.
 
Sounds like a bad decision by the officer, I’d like to see the bodycam when they release it. Not sure how he missed with a rifle if he was not being actively shot at, just terrible marksmanship. Hopefully the department releases the video allowing for a clearer view as to what occurred.
 
Hence why I put variable optics on all of our assault patrol rifles. Get some standoff distance and cover. Dial that shit up and take a peek before you go crazy
What brand/model?
Remember the assault umbrella at the Burlington Mall
At lest the guy at the mall was not charged once they found out it was an umbrella.
 
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