Rohnert Park police: Officers shot at armed 21-year-old man 11 times following standoff

Five Rohnert Park police officers are believed to have fired 11 shots Sunday at a 21-year old man who caused an hourlong standoff after firing a handgun in front of the police station and repeatedly asking to be killed.

Sonoma County Sheriff’s detectives Wednesday identified the man who was shot as Rohnert Park resident Antonio Ramirez Frati. He was struck three times and is expected to survive his injuries, according to the Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the incident due to countywide policy that an officer-involved shooting not be investigated by the agency involved.

About 10:40 p.m., Rohnert Park Sgt. Kelly Koffler and several officers heard gunshots being fired outside their building near Rohnert Park Expressway and State Farm Drive, the Sheriff’s Office said. When Koffler exited the building, he encountered a man later identified as Frati, who was holding a handgun and a bottle of beer, according to Sheriff’s detectives.

Koffler began talking to Frati, ordering him to drop the weapon multiple times, but Frati refused, and repeatedly asked Koffler to shoot him, the Sheriff’s Office said. Rohnert Park police previously described the suspect as saying “kill me” during the standoff.

Many additional police officers took up various positions around the scene, and one officer responded with an unspecified “less than lethal option,” the Sheriff’s Office said.

Police closed roads in the area and summoned a crisis negotiator. For about an hour, Koffler tried to de-escalate the situation verbally and convince Frati to surrender his .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol, but Frati became “increasingly upset” that police wouldn’t shoot him, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Eventually, Fratti, who still had the gun in his hand, walked about 20 yards toward Koffler, repeating his demands to be shot, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

As Frati got within 15 yards of Koffler, the sergeant reportedly feared his life was in danger and shot at Frati. Four other officers fired their weapons about the same time, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Besides Koffler, the others who fired their weapons were identified as Sgt. Brendon Jacy Tatum, and Officers Daniel Hargreaves, Kieran Keaney and Kyle Pinney. All of them were placed on paid administrative leave, per standard county practice.

During the incident, Rohnert Park dispatchers spoke with Frati’s mother, who reportedly said her son has depression. That was confirmed in follow-up interviews with friends and relatives of Frati, but the Sheriff’s Office said it remains “unclear at this time what may have prompted him to attempt suicide in this manner.”

You can reach Staff Writer J.D. Morris at 707-521-5337 or jd.morris@pressdemocrat.com.