Oakland police

Oakland Police Fatally Shoot Sexual Assault Suspect Armed With Rifle

Two Oakland police officers on Monday morning fatally shot a man they say was a sexual assault suspect who was armed with an SKS-type assault rifle in the second fatal officer-involved shooting of the year, the police chief said.

Chief Sean Whent held an early morning news conference to outline what happened from the police perspective about 1:30 a.m. in the 3800 block of Martin Luther King Way near the MacArthur Station and show the media the rifle obtained from the scene.

He added there have been four officer-involved shootings in 2015, and two have been deadly. Before these two, Oakland police hadn't had a fatal officer-involved shooting in 23 months.

Whent said officers went to the home on MLK about 9 p.m. Sunday as they were investigating a sex assault that had been reported earlier that evening, and were confronted by a man who came out of the house with a rifle and "immediately began firing." He said there were "many rounds" found scattered at the scene.

Two officers – one who's been on the force about a year, the other a 14-year veteran recently promoted to sergeant – returned fire, Whent said. One was struck by gunfire and was taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition.

Police said the officer underwent two separate surgeries on Monday and remained stable. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was among the people who visited him in the hospital, according to a spokesman for Schaaf.

The 49-year-old suspect, who was not identified, was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Whent made a point to say that there are a lot of weapons out on the streets and the "potential for things to go bad, occurs all the time."

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