Police in Fremont on Friday identified the suspect who was shot and killed last week after he fired a handgun at officers near Washington Hospital.
Michael Allen Felch, 30, fired a .40 caliber handgun at Fremont Police Department officer Ryan Lobou who was on his way back to the police station last Thursday. Based on witness and video evidence, Felch fired his gun more than three times and as many as five, Fremont Police Chief Kimberly Petersen said at a news conference Friday.
On Feb. 1, Alameda County Sheriff's Office issued a bulletin about Felch, noting that he expressed homicidal ideation regarding law enforcement, and that he was going to "get a gun and shoot the first cop he saw," according to Fremont police.
Officer Lobue was driving southbound on Civic Center Drive when Felch allegedly fired a gun at the patrol vehicle, according to Fremont Capt. Fred Bobbitt. The officer made a u-turn and used his rifle to fire back at the suspect.
More police officers responded to the scene around 10:50 p.m. and 17 minutes later, Felch was pronounced dead, police said.
After Lobue fired back at Felch, he was on the ground, waving his arms with a gun next to him, according to Bobbitt. Officers told Felch not to move but he "crawled and grabbed the firearm and pointed it at our officers," Bobbitt said.
Two other officers fired seven and nine additional shots at the suspect and a gun was found underneath the man's torso, police said. No officers or bystanders were injured.
Fremont police said Felch had previously been arrested for battery of an office and vandalism in 2018. He also had a DUI and drug possession record from 2008, police said.
"We can't know exactly what was in his mind. His mother did say he was troubled, that possibly he had some mental health issue. Of course, our officers couldn't have possibly known that as they were responding but that was a strong possibility," Petersen said.
She added that his mother is coorporating with the investigation but she's also upset the footage of her son's actions and death is being made public.
Petersen said that's an unintended consequence of the new California law in which police are required to release records of investigations of police-involved shootings.
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In responding officer Jennifer Allsup's in-car video footage, Felch can be seen lying on the ground with what appears to be a handgun right next to him. He reached and grabbed the item and pointed it in the officers' direction, the video showed.
Investigators are still working to find out where Felch got the handgun, Fremont police said.
If Felch was alive, he would have been charged with three counts of attempted homicide and one count of felony possession of a gun.
