SWAT Team Arrests Man Who Exchanged Gunfire With Officers, Set Home Ablaze In East Bay: PD

OAKLAND, CA — Oakland police say a SWAT team arrested a man suspected of threatening to kill another person, exchanging gunfire with officers and setting a home he was holed up in on fire Sunday night.

The suspect threatened to kill a woman around Manzanita Park in Oakland around 10:30 a.m., prompting officers to respond to the area, police said.

There, the officers and suspect immediately exchanged gunfire before the latter ran from the area, according to the Oakland Police Department. The gunfire didn't hit anyone, authorities said, and officers moved the victim to safety.

SWAT was called to the scene, along with the department's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to offer aerial support as law enforcement set up a perimeter around where they believed the suspect ran to, authorities said.

Community members helped point out the suspect, telling officers he was inside an abandoned home in the 2600 block of 22nd Avenue, police said.

Hours after the initial call, the suspect began throwing flammable cans he had lit on fire towards officers and then set the home he was in ablaze, police said.

"For community safety, officers deployed a minimal amount of gas in an effort to force the suspect out," police said. "The suspect exited and fought officers as they tried to take him into custody."

SWAT and K9 teams eventually took him into custody, police said. Police did not release the suspect's name.

Authorities believe the suspect may have been involved in other violent crimes around the area before the incident with police, but that "has to still be confirmed," according to Oakland Chief of Police James Beere.

The suspect was taken to a local hospital for evaluation while the Oakland Fire Department extinguished the fire, authorities said.

The officers who exchanged gunfire with the suspect have been placed on paid administrative leave in accordance with department policy, police said.