Teen shot by BART police expected to survive, police say
EL CERRITO, Calif. - BART trains are running through the El Cerrito del Notre station once again following an officer involved shooting Saturday afternoon.
Two officers fired shots at a teen armed with a gun. The teen, who has not been identified, is expected to survive, the transit agency said Sunday morning.
Police say they got a call from a passenger on a train who was witnessing a domestic disturbance, and that the 17-year-old nvolved appeared to have a gun tucked in his waistband.
As a train bound for Warm Springs pulled into El Cerrito's del Norte station, police say officers responding to the emergency call, confronted the suspect with their firearms at the ready based on the report of a potential weapon.
"It was like pop pop pop pop, maybe 8 or 9 in a row. All of a sudden a bunch of people start running out. And I think oh it's gotta be gun shots everybody running out like that," said Dan Holzman.
Police did not say how many shots officers fired, or whether the suspect fired, or intended to.
Police say they recovered a handgun.
The suspect was airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
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Witnesses say after the shooting, the victim's female companion screamed out, "he's only 17."
"I have a young child who is male and African American and seeing the body of an African American laying face forward in tracks was devestating," said Melanie Turner.
BART’s police chief says they’ll be using video from the train, platform, and body-worn cameras as evidence.
Saturday afternoon, the chief said he had not yet seen video, but based on officer and witness accounts, says officers appear to have responded appropriately.
"Our officers I believe reacted the way they are trained to react. They got there. They got a call of a suspect that possibly was armed with a handgun and they responded accordingly and did a great job," said Alvarez.
Per BART policy, an independent police auditor is involved in the case.
The investigator says they have up to one year to determine whether the actions of the BART officers was justified.