By Vincent Moleski
The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A man was shot and killed by law enforcement officers Sunday morning after Sacramento police received reports of a knife-wielding suspect inside a Natomas grocery store.
Around 6:30 a.m., police dispatchers were notified of a vehicle crash on the 3200 block of Arena Boulevard, near the shopping center where a Bel Air store is located, according to Sgt. Sabrina Briggs, a police spokeswoman. The department later said one vehicle crashed into a building.
A responding officer was told there was a man inside the store armed with a “large knife” who was “acting erratically,” Briggs said. The man was determined by police to have been connected with the crash.
The officer went into the store off the intersection of Duckhorn Drive and Arena Boulevard. The officer requested additional police and emergency response units after making contact with the man.
The officer was engaged in negotiations for more than 20 minutes in an attempt to have him drop the knife, police said. The man was seen hurting himself with the knife, according to police. Meanwhile, other officers arrived and started evacuating employees and customers.
At one point, police say the man charged officers with the knife. Briggs said officers first deployed less-than-lethal weaponry to subdue the suspect, but despite being hit, he continued to approach the officers.
Two officers — one from the Sacramento Police Department and one from the California Highway Patrol — opened fire.
Fire personnel arrived shortly afterward and pronounced the man dead. Briggs said it was unclear how many officers discharged their firearms at the suspect.
Police will be conducting an internal investigation into the shooting. Also, Sacramento’s Office of Public Safety and Accountability and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office are monitoring the investigation, according to Briggs.
No officers were injured, according to police. It was not immediately clear if any other people were injured by the suspect.
(c)2020 The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.)