By Michael McGough and Molly Sullivan
The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A man reportedly seen masked and armed with a firearm was fatally shot by two SWAT team officers in a Curtis Park backyard early Thursday morning, Sacramento police said.
Dispatch received a call at 11:23 p.m. Wednesday reporting a person armed with a firearm and wearing a mask in the area of 16th Street and Broadway, according to police spokesman Sgt. Vance Chandler.
Officers responded and found a suspect matching that description at 20th Street and Broadway, and the man ran away as officers tried to make contact, Chandler said. Police did not chase on foot but maintained visual from patrol cars, he said.
The suspect ran into a residential area south of 20th and Broadway and attempted to jump a fence; it was then that an officer standing outside his patrol car saw the man and his firearm, Chandler said, but it was not clear whether the suspect was holding the firearm at the time.
Officers established a perimeter and called the SWAT team in, Chandler said. The SWAT team searched the area using a K-9 and at 3:12 a.m. Thursday found the suspect in a backyard.
“At the time, he posed an immediate threat to officers, and two SWAT officers fired on the suspect,” Chandler said.
The Sacramento Fire Department responded and pronounced the man dead at the scene. Police recovered the firearm that had been brandished, Chandler said.
Police are investigating whether the man pulled a gun on officers, Chandler said. Investigators will check for surveillance video in the area and canvass the area to look for the mask, he said.
The suspect has not yet been identified by police, who expected the area to be shut down for the rest of the day as the investigation continued. Police advised using alternate routes.
A large police presence remained along 21st Street near Broadway on Thursday morning, closing 21st Street and several side streets in the area.
The Police Department tweeted about 5:45 a.m. Thursday: “Suspect is deceased, scene stabilized, no threat to community.”
Linda Perrault, who lives on nearby Burnett Way, said she received a message on her voicemail from Sacramento police Thursday morning advising residents to stay in place as officers searched for an armed suspect. She said she locked her doors and “hibernated.”
Tim Foster, the executive director of publisher Open California, tweeted video of police activity around midnight, saying “Cops were suddenly EVERYWHERE.”
Foster on Twitter described a “full SWAT team” entering his neighbor’s yard, then tweeted “SHOTS FIRED IN MY BACKYARD!”
At 3:40 a.m., Foster wrote, “Pretty sure someone just died in my backyard.”
Police have not yet determined whether the masked man committed crimes other than brandishing a firearm before fleeing, Chandler said.