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View Full Version : Bicyclist Killed in Bay Bridge Gunbattle


Oatka
April 7, 2000, 02:33 PM
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2000/04/06/shooting.DTL

Thursday, April 6, 2000
Bay City News, SF Gate

Two lanes on the westbound Bay Bridge were closed for more than six hours Thursday after the fatal shooting of a heavily armed bicyclist by the CHP.

The lanes were reopened about 6:30 p.m. after being closed for the investigation.

Traffic was backed up all afternoon through the maze and on the Interstate 80, I-580 and I-880 approaches.

The incident occurred about 11:50 a.m. when an officer on the bridge tried to stop the rider of a mountain bike since bicycles are not allowed on the bridge, CHP spokesman Shawn Chase said.

The cyclist resisted and a second CHP officer arrived. The two officers offered to drive the man off the bridge, he said, but at that point the bicyclist took "an aggressive stance," removed his jacket, revealed a handgun and fired at officers, hitting the headlight of one of the officers' motorcycles.

The officers then fired several shots, killing the man. They described him as between 25 and 40 with a "scruffy" appearance. After the incident, they found he had two other weapons, a second handgun and a sawed-off shotgun inside a jacket.

Nick Olgeirson of San Francisco, who witnessed the incident in a passing truck, said he saw the bicyclist "standing and flailing a little bit, at first I thought he was having a seizure. After that, I saw one of the officers lift his gun and fire five or six times, and the guy just fell on the pavement."

Chase said in accordance with protocol in a homicide, the case is being investigated by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, in cooperation with the CHP and Oakland police, who will be conducting their own investigations.

He said any officer involved in such a situation would be placed on administrative leave and would receive counseling, if necessary.

Chase said that while the investigation is not complete, it is likely to conclude that the shooting was a justifiable homicide.

"In this instance, when the suspect pulls a weapon and the officer is defending himself, the officer is not a suspect but a victim,'' he said.

The Alameda County Coroner's Office has picked up the body of the bicyclist.

©2000 Associated Press








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The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.

Don Gwinn
April 7, 2000, 02:43 PM
Bull[color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]. Couldn't have happened. Sawed-off shotguns are illegal; therefore, they are not used in crimes. Have they forgotten so soon?

Jack 99
April 7, 2000, 03:03 PM
"'In this instance, when the suspect pulls a weapon and the officer is defending himself, the officer is not a suspect but a victim,' he said."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Why is everyone a "victim" these days?

If you choose an occupation where you may have to face danger, and one day are put in harm's way, and you defend yourself succesfully, you are NOT a "victim" in any sense of the word in my book. If I were an LEO, I would be offended by that remark.

There's my minor tirade for today.

Mendocino
April 7, 2000, 03:05 PM
I heard on the local news last night that the BG also had his torso wrapped in Saran Wrap.

Go figure.

Dennis Olson
April 7, 2000, 03:16 PM
To keep his guts in when he was shot, I presume....

Gunslinger
April 7, 2000, 03:55 PM
Jack in the case of officer involved shootings the terms "victim" and "suspect" are merely used to identify the participants in the report. The "downed" perpitrator becomes the suspect thus automatically making the officer the victim for purpsoes of the report.

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Gunslinger

We live in a time in which attitudes and deeds once respected as courageous and honorable are now scorned as being antiquated and subversive.

DaHaMac
April 7, 2000, 05:53 PM
This is the first I have heard of the story but it sounds fishy to me.

Is it possible that the bicyclist was not all there mentally causing the cops to be overly alarmed when he refused the cops help. Being overexcited the bicyclist goes into convulsions related to his mental disorder, the cops freak, shoot him and plant weapons. I know it a ridiculous story and no self-respecting LEO would ever do such a thing. I musta been thinking about a movie or something I have seen.

Must be all that right wing radical radio I listen too :)

DaHaMac

4V50 Gary
April 7, 2000, 07:33 PM
AAA with Guns (nickname for CHP) bags 1 BG.

Ponder on this. First, there is no routine traffic stop and the officer never knows what to expect. Second, the bicyclist must be a nut to go on the highway with a bicycle. Finally, thankfully the bicyclist engaged the CHP instead of reaching SF and blasting an office full of people. Nationwide this would have started a whole new wave of anti-firearm legislation.

Glenn E. Meyer
April 7, 2000, 09:37 PM
Those who ride bicyles or jog on bridges
are all suspect.

In Portland, my old home town, they built
a new bridge over the Columbia. It had a running track as OR is running nutland.

The bridge was not done and runners were clearly told to stay off it.

But runners must run. One genius started to run across the traffic part of the bridge.
The traffic was too much, so he hopped over the railing to the running track - which was
40 feet or so now below the road. Oops.

JimR
April 8, 2000, 11:28 AM
This almost sounds like "suicide by cop", i.e. the guy wanted to get killed. Not that this take on this event makes it any easier on the CHP's involved.