By Michael Williams
San Francisco Chronicle
OAKLAND, Calif. —Authorities in Oakland released several videos on Friday showing police fatally shoot a 20-year-old driver who ran over a police officer on Election Day last month.
The shooting happened on Nov. 3 amid what police described as a chaotic night of “roving teams of armed” and coordinated people who allegedly targeted several cannabis dispensaries, grow operations, pharmacies and electronics stores throughout the city.
In a message accompanying the videos, interim Police Chief Susan Manheimer said the caravan consisted of between 40 to 100 cars, “with groups splitting up and simultaneously targeting different businesses in different areas of our city.” One of the businesses targeted was a commercial building with a cannabis grow operation on the 1400 block of 92nd Avenue, a residential area just off International Boulevard.
“As our officers arrived, many in the group ran away, while others attempted to flee in their cars in different directions. Some of the drivers used the sidewalks as roadways, creating a challenging and dangerous situation,” Manheimer said.
One video released by police showed the moments before the shooting, as officers tried to form a perimeter on 92nd Avenue and Holly Street. One officer chased a red sedan that had broken through the perimeter, driving onto the sidewalk. Security video from a nearby home showed a white minivan and a white sedan trying to escape on the same path, as several people ran from police officers.
The white minivan got away, but the white sedan ran over a police officer, before hitting a stop sign at the intersection of 92nd Avenue and Holly Street. The officer was briefly pinned and trapped under the car’s front, left tire.
Just before he was hit, body-worn video from the officer showed him and another officer trying to detain a man on the sidewalk. Somebody was heard shouting, “Oh s—, watch out,” before the car hit the police officer, who was knocked to the ground, gasping in pain.
The car appeared to back-up as another officer — Dinesh Jagar — fired three times with his rifle through the car’s windshield. The car crashed backwards through a gate before coming to a stop.
Police said they pulled the driver, Jonathan Torres Ramirez, out of the car and began attempts to treat him. Torres Ramirez died at the scene.
“Any time deadly force is used by our officers, regardless of what precipitates that force, we are all saddened by the tragic loss of life,” Manheimer said. The shooting remains under investigation. The officers injured in the incident are recovering, Manheimer said.
More than a dozen people were arrested and nine guns were recovered at the scene, police said shortly after the shooting. About an hour after the fatal shooting, a security guard at another grow operation at the 8400 block of Baldwin Street was injured during a shootout while people tried breaking into the business.
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