Redwood City police kill gun-wielding man outside bank

Police say they tried de-escalation methods for man reported to be pacing near ATMs

REDWOOD CITY » Authorities on Sunday hadn’t yet released the name of a man who was fatally shot by police Saturday afternoon outside a bank a few blocks from downtown, near the intersection of Broadway and Main Street.

Redwood City police said in a news release Saturday that the man was shot after he fired a gun in the direction of officers who had first tried using “de-escalating techniques.”

Police said they were investigating the shooting on the 1900 block of Broadway and that there were no outstanding suspects, so the community shouldn’t be alarmed.

Police had responded to a call Saturday about a man who was holding a black handgun near the ATMs at Wells Fargo Bank at 1900 Broadway, the news release said. The caller described the man as a Hispanic male in his 30s who was pacing back and forth.

Redwood City police, along with deputies from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, “utilized a variety of active crisis intervention and de-escalating techniques” and used less lethal weapons to engage the man, police said. But when the man raised his gun and fired shots in the direction of the officers, they returned fire and killed the man, they said.

Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

“The gentleman wasn’t complying with the officers’ demands, so it seems to me he pulled something out of his sweater, at which point the officers started firing their weapons and wounding the gentleman. He fell to the ground,” witness Ignacio Jimenez told a reporter from ABC7.

Several hours after the shooting, police and San Mateo County sheriff deputies were still scouring the scene for evidence. A downtown block surrounding the Wells Fargo was cordoned off with police tape.

The officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is customary in officer-involved shootings, police said. The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office is responsible for investigating officer-involved shootings in the county.