Off-duty Oakland officer shoots man — witness says pair argued

An off-duty Oakland police officer shot and wounded a man on the 800 block of 35th Street near the Interstate 580/ 980 interchange in Oakland Wednesday morning, officials said.

According to Officer Kim Armstead, the officer, whose name was not immediately released, called police dispatch just before 9:30 a.m. to report he had just shot a man he believed was armed. The man fled, but later showed up at a hospital with gunshot wounds, police said. He was shot at least once, Armstead said.

The shooting was not fatal, Armstead said, but she did not disclose the man’s condition or where he had been shot. The officer was not injured. He was placed on administrative leave, as is customary in police shootings, while the incident is investigated.

Police arriving at the scene found a firearm, Armstead said. Because the shooting took place not far from Brockhurst Elementary School, the school was briefly locked down “out of an abundance of caution,” she said.

Armstead said the matter was under investigation by the department and that what led up to the shooting was not yet fully known.

Vincent Ray Williams, who said he was waiting to cross 35th Street, told The Chronicle he saw two men arguing near the passenger side of a car. He said the man who was shot lives in the car.

“I kind of saw the back-and-forth, just figured they were getting into it,” and he turned away, Williams said. But he quickly looked back when he heard gunshots, and saw both men with firearms. Williams said the shooting victim did not have his gun raised or pointed at the off-duty officer.

Williams, who works with homeless people, said he recognized the man who was shot and saw he was bleeding profusely, and pulled over to ask if he was OK, he said. The man ran toward Brockhurst Street and Williams followed him, losing him as he turned the corner onto Brockhurst.

When he returned to the shooting scene, Williams said, he asked the officer if he had shot the man.

“Yeah,” Williams said the off-duty officer answered. “He just pulled a gun on me.”

Williams said he noticed that the car had at least eight bullet holes in the windshield. He said he remained on the scene for a couple of hours, telling investigators what he had witnessed.

“Because of the work that I do, I don’t want to take any sides,” the founder of the Urban Compassion Project, which works with homeless people, said.

“I just know that both men’s lives are going to be changed forever. My prayers are going out to both individuals and their families.”