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Man Shoots Himself During Confrontation With BART Police At West Oakland Station

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Trains did not stop at the West Oakland BART Station for several hours Tuesday night after police said a man shot himself in the stomach during a confrontation with officers.

According to BART police, the incident occurred when two BART officers approached a man who was smoking a cigarette on the platform. Police told him to put out the cigarette, which he did. When they asked for his ID, he began to fight with the officers.

"Officers felt that he was being aggressive. He started moving away from officers, they grabbed him. At that time, a fight ensued. The suspect fought back the officers aggressively, had two officers on him. He started reaching for his waistband at this time," said Jeffrey Jennings, BART Police Deputy Chief Of Operations

"They went to taze him. At the same time he was tazed, we are not quite sure of the time frame yet, he shot himself in the stomach," Jennings said.

BART police say the officers' weapons were checked and it does not appear either weapon was fired in the incident. The officers were wearing body cameras at the time.

A witness named Leona told KPIX 5 that there was a scuffle between two officers and a passenger.

"I just saw two police officers struggling with this guy and he was partially over the wall.  I turned to leave and then I heard a shot, and then I turned back and I heard him yelling, 'they shot me,' and then he just went cold, and then the police officers just sort of stood there for a minute, and then there was blood everywhere, and then one of the cops just started yelling, 'He shot himself,' and he just said that two or three times," Leona said.

The man was transported to Highland hospital in Oakland, where he was listed in critical condition.

Twitter user Akshay Dodeja posted video of the incident.

AC Transit buses carried passengers back and forth between West Oakland and the Lake Merritt and 12th Street stations Tuesday night. The station reopened shortly after 11:30 p.m.

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