Suspect in shootout at Manzanita Park in Oakland arrested after shelter-in-placer order

By Jose Fabian

Oakland police said an armed suspect in a shootout at Manzanita Park Sunday was arrested after a search and a shelter-in-place order.

Officers were first called around 10:30 a.m. by multiple residents and told a man was threatening to kill a woman in Manzanita Park.

“This could have been far worse. He obviously had some pretty violent tendencies, and he was out to hurt today. He was bent on killing someone today,” Oakland Police Chief James Beere said.  

Beere said the man shot at officers the moment they got to the scene, and officers shot back. The man then fled the scene, and officers were able to rescue the woman.

Beere said the man still had a gun and was believed to be in the area, trying to leave through people’s backyards. This prompted the department to issue a shelter-in-place order for the neighborhood. 

The suspect was later barricaded in an abandoned building. 

“In that process, he started to throw flammable cans that he lit on fire at the police officers. And then lit the building he was in on fire,” the chief said. 

Smoke and flashbangs were deployed, and the suspect was later taken into custody. The suspect’s identification was not released. 

The suspect was taken to a hospital, and no other injuries were reported. 

Oakland police are working to determine the relationship between the suspect and the woman. Investigators said the woman is physically OK.