Police investigate CHP officer-involved shooting in Modesto's Village I

A Stanislaus County man was shot to death Saturday afternoon by an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer in east Modesto after he escaped from Doctors Behavioral Health Center and tried to break into nearby homes, authorities said.

The man, whose identity has not been released but who is believed to be 19 years old, was shot twice by the officer in front a home in the 3700 block of Densmore Lane about two blocks south of Merle Avenue.

The man was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead, according to Sgt. Rick Applegate of the Modesto Police Department.

Late Saturday morning, the man was involved in “some sort of violent confrontation” with a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department deputy, and was taken to the center at 1501 Claus road for 72 hours of observation, Applegate said.

Shortly before 5 p.m., Modesto police received calls of the man running in and out of traffic on East Briggsmore Avenue just west of Claus Road and a few hundred feet from the center.

Witnesses said the man then jumped into the canal that runs along Briggsmore and swam across to the north edge. He then jumped over a brick wall that borders the Palisades neighborhood, and ran through some back yards trying to enter houses, Applegate said.

The man eventually smashed the front window of one home and tried to enter the house occupied by at least one adult and several children, a witness told officers.

Applegate said he did not know if the off-duty officer lived in the neighborhood, or was there for some other reason.

At some point, the officer shot the man in front of a home. Applegate said he did not know if the man made contact or tried threatening the officer.

“When our officer came on to the street, they saw the off-duty officer with his weapon holding his badge and identifying himself as an officer to our officer,” Applegate said. “Our officer came up and did find at least one edged weapon lying next to the suspect on the ground and then they secured the suspect and started first-aid.”

Applegate said the man had a large cut on his body and neighbors told officers he had tried to cut his own throat. He said he did not know how the man escaped from the center.

Nobody with the center or the sheriff's department could be reached for comment on Saturday night.

Police had cordoned off the area near the shooting, and none of the neighbors within the perimeter of the crime scene were available for comment.

One man who lived nearby said he didn’t hear a thing until officers arrived.

Applegate did not have the name of the off-duty officer, who he said was being questioned on Saturday night at the CHP office in north Modesto.

He said the CHP will conduct an internal investigation and the Modesto police detectives will handle the criminal investigation because it occurred under their jurisdiction.

The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office also will investigate the incident, which is standard in officer-involved shootings.

This is the first officer-involved shooting in Stanislaus County this year. There were six in 2010.

This story was originally published March 19, 2011 at 9:32 PM with the headline "Police investigate CHP officer-involved shooting in Modesto's Village I."