Petaluma Man Killed By Police After Violating Restraining Order
SANTA ROSA (BCN) - A Petaluma man with a restraining order against him was shot and killed by police Friday in Santa Rosa.
Nicodemus Theophrastos Sullivan, 24, was shot by sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers after a standoff in the road that led him to attempt to flee.
At about 10 p.m., Sonoma County Sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call in the 4000 block of Hargrave Avenue, where Sullivan's mother and stepfather live, and found Sullivan backing out of the driveway.
Sullivan stopped his car in the middle of the street, facing a sheriff's car, police said. Several deputies and another patrol car then surrounded Sullivan, who refused to exit his car.
Police broke a passenger window of Sullivan's car and attempted to restrain him with a Taser gun.
Sullivan took off in his car, striking several other parked patrol cars. Police said Sullivan might have struck a deputy with his car.
Officers fired several shots at Sullivan's car. As deputies approached the car, they thought he was reaching for a weapon and more shots were fired at Sullivan.
Sullivan was then pulled from his car, handcuffed, and taken into custody. He was treated at the scene for gunshot wounds and transported to a local hospital, where he pronounced dead on arrival.
Sullivan died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds, the Sonoma County Coroner's office said.
Days before the shooting, Sullivan had been acing in a bizarre manner, according to witnesses. He said the world was coming to an end and he was obsessed with reading the Bible, witnesses said. Police said witnesses also believe Sullivan may have been using narcotics.
Sullivan had a restraining order placed on him after witness accounts of his behavior and threats made against his stepfather, police said. The restraining order was meant to keep him away from the home on Hargrave Avenue.
Police had responded to calls over a two-day period that Sullivan was in violation of the restraining order before Friday's shooting.
The investigation is being conducted by the Santa Rosa Police Department.
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