On Saturday, March 8, 2014, 9:17 p.m., three Sacramento Police Officers assigned to the Regional Transit Police Services Division responded to the 1200 block of Whitney Avenue on a report of a suicidal subject armed with a knife onboard an occupied Regional Transit train. 

The uniformed officers boarded the train, immediately located the subject and tried to speak to him.  The 51-year-old suspect appeared very agitated and was holding his jacket in front of him concealing his hands shouting at the officers to shoot him.

Based on the information that the suspect had a knife, was reportedly suicidal and not responding to the officer’s commands, one of the officers deployed her Conducted Energy Device.  That deployment had no effect on him.  A second officer immediately deployed his Conducted Energy Device at the suspect which also had no effect.  The suspect then lunged at the officers with the knife.  The officers backed up to avoid being stabbed or slashed and fearing for their safety as well as the safety of the remaining passengers on the train, two of the officers fired their handguns at the suspect striking him several times in the upper body.   

The officers immediately broadcasted that they were involved in a shooting and requested medical personnel to respond to the scene.  The Sacramento Fire Department arrived and transported the suspect to UCD Medical Center for treatment.  The suspect died a short time later at the hospital.

Multiple witnesses that were onboard the trains were contacted and interviewed.  No witnesses or officers were injured during the incident. The suspect’s knife and other evidentiary items were photographed, collected and later booked into evidence. 

The Sacramento Police Department’s Homicide, Internal Affairs and Crime Scene Investigations Units are actively conducting this investigation in conjunction with the City’s Office of Public Safety Accountability.  All three officers have been placed on routine paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

The Sacramento Police Department urges anyone with information pertaining to this incident to contact the Dispatch Center at (916) 264-5471 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP (4357) or in a tip to 274637 (CRIMES). Enter SACTIP followed by the tip information. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.