Redwood City police fatally shoot armed man, chief says

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Redwood City police fatally shot an armed man after some sort of domestic violence incident Tuesday afternoon, the police chief said.

Shortly after 3 p.m. officers responded to the area El Camino Real between Vera and Roosevelt after the 911 dispatch center received a call for service, but the caller was unresponsive.

Chief Dan Mulholland said, "Our dispatchers could hear a woman's voice that was emotional, elevated, and appeared to be calling to some children who could also be heard on the 911 call. That person was not responsive to the dispatcher's attempt to open communication."

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Mulholland said officers were able to pinpoint the location of the vehicle associated with the caller. That brought officers to the area of El Camino Real.

Mulholland said when officers first arrived there was some confusion as to what had transpired.

Officers learned that a 36-year-old man from Redwood City was involved in some sort of disturbance with a 32-year-old woman inside a suburban. There were also three children ages 1, 4, and 10 in the vehicle.

Police said the man was armed and at some point, he exited the vehicle with the firearm. Police said crisis negotiators were brought to the scene and that the man tried to use the children as a shield. 

The woman was able to escape from the car with the two younger children. The third child fled from the vehicle and ran into a nearby business.

Mulholland said five officers fired their weapons at the man from three different angles. 

The man was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Chief Mulholland said the man was known to police. His identity has not yet been released.

Investigators are still working to determine what led up to the incident. 

SkyFox flew above the crime scene where several uniformed officers blocked off the area.

Video posted to Facebook shows the chaos and officers working to get stalled motorists out of their vehicles and to safety. 

Witnesses reported hearing a barrage of gunfire shortly after officers arrived at scene. 

The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave. The San Mateo County District Attorney's office has taken the lead in the investigation.  

Police said the California Department of Justice was notified of the incident.