Suspect shot by Newman police officer dies at hospital

A male suspect shot by a Newman Police Department officer responding to a report of a fight with weapons at a home has died, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department reported Wednesday afternoon.

The incident occurred about 8:40 a.m. on the 400 block of Bobolink Avenue, just south of Hurd Barrington Park.

Shortly after arriving, officers reported that shots had been fired, said sheriff’s Sgt. Anthony Bejaran. The suspect was struck by an officer’s gunfire. A female victim was treated at the scene for her injuries.

Details of what happened at the residence have not been released, so it’s unclear whether there was gunfire before the officers arrived. There was a report on police scanners that a woman had been stabbed, but that hasn’t been confirmed.

This was the Newman Police Department’s first officer-involved shooting since September 1998, Bejaran said. At the request of Newman police, the Sheriff’s Department is conducting the criminal and administrative investigations. The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office is conducting an independent review of the incident.

The officer’s name, age and gender have not been released. The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave in accordance with department policy, Bejaran said.

The officer involved was not injured.

Gilbert Alfaro, a neighbor who lives at the corner of Bobolink and Barrington, said the shooting occurred several houses down from him.

Alfaro said he heard an officer yelling at a man to “stop.” He then heard five to six shots.

He immediately took his children, ages 4 and 6, to the back of the house because he didn’t want them in harm’s way. He then looked at his security cameras and, seeing nothing going on by his house, went outside.

It’s always been a quiet neighborhood, Alfaro said, and he’s never seen or heard about disturbances at the house where the incident occurred.

It is the second fatal officer-involved shooting in Stanislaus County in less than three weeks.

On Jan. 30, Spencer Herckt, 42, was shot and killed by Modesto Police Department officers on Maserati Drive. Police say Herckt twice resisted arrest, the second time striking an officer over the head with a large glass object before an officer shot him.

Check back later for video from the incident in Newman

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 9:44 AM with the headline "Suspect shot by Newman police officer dies at hospital."