[UPDATE 3:18 p.m.] Man Armed With a Knife Threatened Officers; Shot With Beanbag Gun
This afternoon a man armed with a knife threatened officers and was subdued with a bean bag gun in Eureka, according to Capt. Steve Watson of the EPD.
“This was a dangerous, disturbed individual threatening people,” Watson explained. The incident began around Harris and O Street with the suspect, Jamael Lowery, born 1988 in Eureka threatening people, Watson said. Lowery, he said, fled into a nearby gully. EPD officers “tracked” him.
“When officers went to confront him, he came at them with a knife,” the Captain explained. Then the man allegedly said something like “you’ll have to kill me,” Watson said. The man refused to drop the knife and came at the officers, he stated.
The officers had an extended range, less lethal option device, 12 gauge pump action loaded with beanbag rounds with them. “Otherwise they might have had to kill him,” Watson said. An officer fired it “a couple of times.”
“What very easily could have turned into an officer involved shooting,” said Watson was resolved without lethal force.
Officers have been being trained with these devices since last year. The department now owns eight of them, Watson explained. “This is the exact reason why we embark on this training program,” he said.
UPDATE 3:18 p.m.: Tweet from Chief Andrew Mills of the Eureka Police Department,
Man attacked @Eureka_Police officer w knife. Less lethal deployed. Man lives. @LCOutpost @eurekaTS @ncj_of_humboldt pic.twitter.com/30oadtnhcn
— Andrew Mills (@ChiefAndyMills) September 12, 2016
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Right next to my house my wife thought they really shot him
ya as far as I know, bean bag shells sound just like regular shotgun shells (maybe a tad less gunpowder then standard shells tho) So ya it doesn’t surprise me that your wife thought that, the guy that was shot probably was confused at first as well…I mean that he wasn’t dead and all.
He was “born in 1988 in Eureka threatening people?” Well I guess that solves the whole “nature vs. nurture” debate!
On a more serious note, good job EPD. Glad to see they were able to make the situation safe without any loss of life.
I thought I smelled gun smoke as I drove by.
Great job EPD !!
bagged one !
Ouch!
I thought the game with bean bags was called corn hole.Sounds like the guy needs a good rest in the pokey-hole. Bubbah gunna sing you a lulabye.. No sleepin on the job fool.
Wow. The EPD is moving into the 21st century
So the Eureka PD is just now using less than lethal devices, think of how many lives could have been spared if they had started to carry them routinely long ago. Now the Sheriff dept needs to be properlu trained in less than lethal tools, as well as standoff crisis negotiations. Think of how many unnecessary homicide by officers that have taken place in the last few years, and just a few weeks ago the whole mess where the Mendocono Sheriffs shot and killed that guy in Humboldt after agitating the standoff situation further…. all those lives could have been saved by some creative negotiations and less than lethal tools rather than shooting to kill mentally unstable men having “mental breakdowns”…. the officers need to learn how to negotiate and use their fire arms as the very very last resort… everyday we here of another Police Shooting Victim where some idiot having a bad day pushes officers to shoot him, sometimes the guy is just crying out for help, sometimes just beligerant and intoxicated… thats the problem with arming officers with only a couple years education and little street experience, they get scared and prematurely pull the trigger. Good job not killing this guy, its about time we valued life more than authority