Man who barricaded himself in home amid fire dies

Police say he had medical episode after being removed

FREMONT >> A man who barricaded himself inside a burning apartment last week has died following a medical episode he suffered after officers pulled him from the unit, police said Thursday.

Authorities identified the man as William Farris but did not provide his age.

Police responded about 9:07 a.m. May 20 to assist Fremont fire crews with a blaze at an apartment complex in the 46000 block of Winema Common. Authorities said the initial reports indicated Farris had set the apartment ablaze.

Officers upon arrival tried to persuade Farris to leave the apartment, but police said he refused. When fire crews tried to enter the apartment, Farris yelled at them to get out and that he had a firearm, police said.

Just before 3 p.m., officers contacted the man again; police said there was a struggle. Officers put him in handcuffs and took him outside, where he received medical attention, police said.

During that medical attention, he suffered an unspecified medical problem, police said. An ambulance took him to a hospital, but police said his condition deteriorated. Farris died Sunday.

According to police, detectives continue to investigate

“all aspects of the incident.” The Alameda County coroner's office has not determined

Farris' cause of death.

In the hours before they

first arrived and pulled out Farris, police relied on onduty SWAT team personnel and crisis personnel in an attempt to talk him down. SWAT team members used a self-contained breathing apparatus, and Fremont police brought out an armored BearCat vehicle equipped to support the oxygen tanks that SWAT team members and firefighters used.

Sporadic fires at the apartment continued to burn during the entire standoff, and Fremont fire crews put them out, police said. They were not able to get near the apartment because of Farris' threats, but a second BearCat vehicle called to the scene had a fire hose attachment.

Police asked anyone with additional information to contact Detective Jake Blass at 510-790-6963 or by email at jblass@fremont.gov.

RAY CHAVEZ — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Paramedics bring William Farris to an ambulance as they exit a burning residential complex on the 46000 block of Winema Common in Fremont on May 20.