Man shot, wounded by Petaluma police still unidentified

Five Petaluma police officers fired a total of 16 rounds at a distraught man Tuesday, striking him at least once in the abdomen, after he raised what appeared to be a gun at them during an armed standoff at a large apartment complex.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the officer-?involved shooting, released the additional details about the shooting, but had yet to reveal the name or condition of the man shot by police or whether the handgun he was holding was real.

Authorities said the man remained alive at a local hospital but how badly he was injured was still unclear. Police earlier said he had suffered more than one gunshot wound when several officers shot him the day before.

Detectives spent much of Wednesday at the scene, serving several search warrants, gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses. Footage from the body-worn cameras of all five officers also was being reviewed as part of the investigation, sheriff’s officials said.

Police said the man had been distraught and threatening suicide when someone called police to The Vineyard complex southeast of Casa Grande High School around noon Tuesday.

The caller said the man was making suicidal threats and might be armed, and the call was dispatched as a ?domestic dispute.

But arriving officers found themselves trying to negotiate the man’s surrender, as he “produced a firearm and attempted to shoot himself in the head.”

They provided water when he asked and urged him to keep his hands off his gun, a neighbor said Tuesday.

At 1:51 p.m., he appeared to check the firearm and reload it, then pointed the weapon at officers, prompting them to fire their own guns, Petaluma police said.

Petaluma Police Lt. Tim Lyons described the man’s wounds as nonlethal.

A Petaluma fire ambulance crew had been staged nearby and quickly provided medical assistance before transporting the man to the hospital, police said.

The area around the apartments on Lakeville Circle was under a “shelter in place” order during the standoff, preventing residents and any visitors from coming or going for nearly three hours.

A police dispatcher also alerted Casa Grande High School more than an hour into the drama and requested students be kept in class until the close of the school day, if necessary, Principal Eric Backman said.

He said the police chief called later, 15 minutes before the final bell, to give the all-clear. A lockdown was never under consideration, and “at no point were our students in harm’s way,” Backman said.

The Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting under the countywide protocol for critical, officer-involved incidents.

Staff Writer Kevin McCallum contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter?@MaryCallahanB.