Officer killed in drive-by shooting ID’d

Pinole resident, 53, shot while on duty during protests

The Federal Protective Service officer shot and killed in Oakland on Friday was a 53-year-old Pinole resident, authorities said Sunday.

The FBI identified the officer as Dave Patrick Underwood, who was remembered by friends as a good-natured man and talented athlete in his days at Pinole Valley High School. Federal officials have called the shooting that killed Underwood and wounded another officer an act of “domestic terrorism,” but authorities have not said what they believe the motive to be.

Underwood’s sister, Angela Jacob Underwood, posted about his death on her Facebook page: “My brother, Dave Patrick Underwood, a federal officer, was murdered 5/29/20 in Oakland California, while on duty during the riots,” she wrote. “This Violence Must Stop.”

Underwood and another officer were shot about 9:45 p.m. Friday near the intersection of 12th and Jefferson streets. The guards were on duty patrolling the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building, as a protest was occurring blocks away near City Hall.

The FBI says a van pulled up to the building near a guard shelter and one of its occupants began shooting. The other officer was in critical condition Saturday, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official.

The FBI San Francisco office has not identified a motive or made any arrests. Investigators are asking the public for any images or videos of the area around the time of the shooting. Tips should be made at tips.fbi. gov. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Underwood, who worked as a contract officer for the Federal Protective Service of the Department of Homeland Security, was known to his friends as “Pat.”

Lamar Hall, who played baseball with Underwood at

Pinole Valley, said Underwood had enough talent to pursue baseball as a career, had he wanted to. He also excelled on the basketball court as a Pinole Spartan.

“The guy had the sickest jump shot you’ve ever seen. He would run off five or six three pointers on you and on the baseball diamond he might go 2-for-4 with a homer and a double and” wouldn’t brag about it, said Hall, who was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1987. “He wasn’t obnoxious. He was quiet and had a calm demeanor.”

Steve Storer, who coached Underwood in high school, first met him when he was a student at Collins Elementary School. Storer remembered Underwood as a softspoken and respectful student.

“Never had a problem with him,” Storer said. “He’s the kind of kid you want to be around, the kind of kid you remember 10, 20, 30 years later. I could see him getting into the law enforcement field and taking care of people — that’s the way he was.

“A real good guy lost his life,” Storer added.

Hall and Underwood grew up playing baseball at Fernandez Park in the 1970s and ’80s, when the West Contra Costa city had a smaller African American population. In those days, “you’d get off AC Transit and many nights you’d run full speed ahead” to get home, Hall said.

“Pat didn’t have one enemy on the face of this Earth,” said Hall, who lives in Las Vegas. “Everybody that came into contact with Pat loved the guy. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. He was just that cool.”

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf on Saturday called the shooter an “assassin” and “cowardly.”

“Any loss in the DHS family impacts all of us and I want the loved ones of these brave officers to know you have the support of the department behind you,” Wolf said.