OfficerBlueOakland, CA – Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department (BART) released video which shows the officer-involved shooting of Sahleem Tindle outside of a West Oakland BART station.
The shooting occurred Jan. 3 at around 4:41 p.m., according to KPIX.
Officer Joseph Mateu was in the lobby of the BART station when gunshots rang out and witnesses told the officer that somebody was shooting.
Officer Mateu ran towards the gunfire and saw two men struggling over a gun.
The officer repeatedly ordered the men, “Show me your hands!” and they continued to fight over the gun.
The officer was able to assess the situation, and fired three rounds at Sahleem Tindle, 28. Tindle then surrendered and later succumbed to his injuries.
The man who was involved in the fight with Tindle suffered a gunshot wound, which is believed to have come from the initial shots fired by Tindle. The ballistics report has not been released yet to confirm that information, but BART Chief Rojas appeared confident that Tindle had shot the other man.
The officer’s actions appears to have saved the shooting victim’s life.
The shooting is still under investigation, but Chief Rojas spoke out about the incident.
“So he runs and within less than a minute he’s confronted with a situation that he did not create, a situation that he did not ask to get involved in, but a situation where he felt it was his duty to respond,” Chief Rojas said, according to KPIX. “And so he finds himself at Seventh and Chester with two individuals in front of him, struggling for what I believe to be a handgun. And it looks like one individual is trying to pin that gun to the ground… And I believe that the individual that is trying to fight for his life has already been shot by Mr. Tindle… The individual that’s being shot doesn’t have his hands up, the individual that’s being shot, it appears to me, has his hands concealed.”
However, Tindle’s family is threatening to sue because they claim that there’s no way that the officer could have known that Tindle was armed before Tindle was shot.
The gun is clearly visible in the body camera video.
You can see the video of the shooting below. WARNING – Graphic content: