The Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Police officers fatally shot a mentally ill man who charged at them with an three-foot-long ax, authorities said Friday.
Booker Carloss II, 50, was killed shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday in the basement of his West Oakland home, according to the Oakland Police Department.
Carloss’ brothers said they called police for help when Carloss began wielding an ax and threatening family members.
The officers tried to subdue Carloss with Taser stun guns and a bean-bag round, but Carloss didn’t respond and then charged toward them with the ax, police said.
Sgt. Fred Mestas and Officer Jacob Floyd had no choice but to fire at Carloss, who was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Carloss’ brothers, Jerome, 48, and Glenn, 46, said they believed the officers fired their weapons 10 to 15 seconds after entering the basement.
“They came in like gangbusters,” Glenn Carloss told the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday. “We just feel that they had an opportunity to resolve this without having to go into a kill mode.”
But the officers’ attorney said the police acted appropriately.
“The officers literally exhausted every conceivable option before finally using deadly force to protect themselves,” said Harry Stern of Pleasant Hill.
Mestas and Floyd were placed on routine paid administrative leave for three days. The shooting is being investigated by Oakland police and the Alameda County district attorney’s office.