BART Identifies Transit Officer Who Fatally Shot Suspect
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- BART officials have identified the transit police officer who fatally shot a suspect near the West Oakland BART station last week.
BART officials said officer Joseph Mateu, who has been with the agency since Nov. 2005, was the officer involved in the shooting.
BART spokesman Jim Allison said Mateu currently was on paid leave which is standard in any internal investigation.
The suspect who was killed in the shooting at 4:41 p.m. on Jan. 3 in the 1400 block of Seventh Street across from the West Oakland station has been identified as 28-year-old Shaleem Tindle of Oakland.
Oakland police said the incident began when Mateu, who was on duty and was in his uniform, was inside the West Oakland station at 1451 Seventh St. and heard a shooting taking place.
Mateu responded to the shooting near the intersection of Seventh and Chester streets, just west of the station, where he saw two men in a struggle and one of them possessing a handgun, police said.
Oakland police said that after giving several commands, Mateu opened fire, striking one of the men, later identified as Tindle, who they said was in possession of the handgun.
Tindle was taken to a hospital and later succumbed to his injuries.
The other man involved in the altercation was also taken to a hospital in stable condition and has since been released.
Police said they were still trying to clarify how that man was injured.
Oakland police said a firearm was recovered from the scene. The Oakland Police Department's homicide section was investigating the case, as is the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
