And more details of the 9:42 a.m. incident by way of Harry Harris and Natalie Neysa Alund of the Bay Area News Group:
The officers -- a rookie and the other his field training officer -- dressed in full uniform and in a marked police vehicle, confronted the man, who was holding a knife in the middle of the street.
An altercation ensued before one of the officers fired at least one shot at the man. Police did not report which officer fired the weapon.
The officers gave the man first aid until paramedics arrived. The man was then taken by ambulance to a local hospital to be treated but his condition is not known.
The officers wore body cameras, but whether they were activated during the confrontation was not immediately reported.
Both officers have been placed on administrative leave, standard protocol in such cases. Oakland police and the Alameda County District Attorney's Office are investigating.
The shooting brought top police commanders, including Chief Sean Whent, to the area, where numerous streets were blocked off as police investigated.
The shooting was the second involving the OPD after the department's officers had gone 20 months without firing their weapons in the line of duty.
Early last Saturday, officers responded to a disturbance in the city's San Antonio neighborhood and encountered a man they say was armed with golf clubs. During a confrontation, they said, the man swung two clubs at them, prompting one officer to open fire. The man was not hit, however, and was taken into custody.
Friday's shooting comes as authorities in San Jose investigate a fatal police shooting on Wednesday.
Two San Jose officers shot and killed Phillip Watkins, 23, after he allegedly charged at them with a knife. San Jose police said Thursday that Watkins apparently made a false 911 report of a home invasion at his fiancee's address. Here's how the San Francisco Chronicle details the police account:
Watkins’ 911 call came in at 5:01 p.m., said Sgt. Heather Randol, a San Jose police spokeswoman. “The caller stated there was a male breaking into his home armed with a knife,” Randol said. “The caller also stated he was locked in an upstairs bedroom with his children and requested help from police.”
She said Watkins was on the sidewalk in front of the home when two officers got there. He was holding a knife with a 4-inch blade and ran toward the officers in a threatening manner, Randol said.
“Both officers ordered the suspect to stop and drop the knife,” Randol said. “The suspect continued to charge the officers with the knife in his hand. Both officers, fearing for their safety and defense of their life, fired at the suspect.”
On the police radio, one officer said, “We have a male with a knife. He's walking toward us.”
“Shots fired! Shots fired!” an officer said moments later.
A short time later, an officer reported, “Male is down. Knife’s still in hand.”
Faye Buchanan, the mother of Watkins' fiancee, told the Chronicle that Watkins was depressed and she had called a suicide hotline immediately before the shooting:
“He needed mental help, not nine bullets,” she said. “They shot him as if he was coming with a machine gun, a machete — not a pocketknife to cut boxes open.”
