San Rafael police drone locates shooting suspect who shot himself in the leg
By Carlos E. Castañeda
A shooting in San Rafael injured the alleged gunman who was later tracked down with a police drone, authorities said.
The San Rafael Police Department said in a press release that the shooting happened at about 9 a.m. on Monday in the area of Kerner Boulevard and Fairfax Street in the city’s Canal Street neighborhood. Multiple callers to 911 reported hearing a gunshot in the area, and witnesses provided information about male suspect who fired a handgun and fled from the scene, police said.
Officers responded along with two police department drones to locate the shooting scene and find the suspect. The officers contacted people who had been involved in an argument with the suspect, who was identified as 21-year-old San Rafael resident Alex Alfredo Velasquez-Perez, police said. The investigation determined that Velasquez-Perez became involved in a verbal confrontation with another person possibly over a street gang rivalry, according to police.
During the confrontation, Velasquez-Perez went to remove a gun from a backpack, but while doing so, he ended up shooting himself in the leg, police said. Velasquez-Perez then fled the area before officers arrived. No one else was injured.
Velasquez-Perez’s description was relayed to responding officers searching the area, aided by the two drones. At about 9:10 a.m., one of the drones located a person matching Velasquez-Perez’s description walking through an apartment complex on Larkspur Street about a block away from the shooting scene.
The drone operator directed officers to the location where they took Velasquez-Perez into custody without incident, police said. The officers also saw that Velasquez-Perez had a gunshot wound to his leg and provided him first aid until medics arrived to take him to a hospital for treatment.
During a search warrant served at Velasquez-Perez’s home, detectives found and seized the handgun believed to have been used during the incident, police said.
Velasquez-Perez was released from the hospital later Monday and booked into the Marin County Jail on felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon/firearm and possession of a concealed and loaded firearm in public.
Police asked anyone with information about the incident to call the department at 415-485-3000 or visit https://www.srpd.org/tips.
