Rob AriasIn the wake of some horrific news stories across the nation where police were targeted and killed including Dallas & Baton Rouge, it’s no wonder if officers are a bit on edge. These national stories hit home last night when two Emeryville police officers came under gunfire while on foot patrol in the Park Avenue District.
According to a Tweet by Emeryville Police Chief Jennifer Tejada, a single shot was fired in the vicinity of two foot patrol officers about 8:30 last night. A singe 9mm round was recovered in a building at the intersection of Park Avenue and Watts Street adjacent to Pixar Animation Studios.
1 shot fired as officers on Foot Patrol Watts/ Park. A 9mm round found in wall of nearby building- Officers not injured. @EmeryvilleCA
— Chief Tejada (@ChiefTejada) July 30, 2016
Neither the Chief or the official City of Emeryville twitter handle could confirm if the officers were in fact the target of the shooter. The area is a block behind the Oaks Club Parking lot and just two blocks away from the 40th & San Pablo intersection that has been the scene of more frequent criminal activity including a recent daytime shooting.
At this time we are not confirming officers were targeted only that shot fired at approximately 8:30 PM as officers were on (cont’d)
— Emeryville, CA (@EmeryvilleCA) July 30, 2016
[Updates:] The EPD later released this statement referring to the incident as a “Negligent Discharge of a Firearm”. “The bullet hit the ground approx. 50” in front of the officers” noted Chief Tejada when I inquired for an update of the incident. “The officers did not hear any gun shot sound, the Oakland shot spotter did not pick up any shots so it is most likely the gun was fired from quite a distance away. All this leads me to conclude the officers were not targeted.”
While on foot patrol this evening at 8:15pm on Watts Avenue, two Emeryville Police Officers saw a 9mm bullet ricochet off the ground near where they were walking. The bullet lodged in a nearby building. The officers were not injured.
There were no reported injuries. No description of the shooter(s) was provided and they remain at large. Since this is Breaking News, we will update this post as new information becomes available.
I think your headline is misleading. The phrase “come under fire” implies they were targeted, but it sounds like there was no evidence of that.
I think this is a bit of syntax discussion. The Mercury News used the same terminology:
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_30187591/emeryville-officers-foot-patrol-come-under-gunfire
Thanks for keeping us honest though.
Rob, I agree that the headline is misleading. Most of the press picked up the story of shots being fired “in the vicinity” of police officers and concluded the police officers were the targets.
Emeryville specifically put out the word via the city’s Twitter feed that they had no knowledge if this was the case. What I gather is that the police heard a shot and found the bullet but have no idea what the situation was or what was being shot at.
The difference between police officers being shot at and a shooting happening near where police are patrolling is big enough to exercise some caution in how you report it. The big local media outlets misreported the story but our local news team has the opportunity to get it right.
I find the lack of empathy and understanding between the police and many of those they encounter to be troubling. The police often view saggy pants, black and brown young men as “offenders” while the young men view the police as out to get them when they have done nothing wrong.
In this era of immediate communication, we have all seen the videos of a child playing in a park with a toy gun. In this video, a police car rolls up, a policeman jumps out and shoots the child before you can say “jiminy Cricket”. I don’t need to go into detail about the many other videos where the young man of color ends up dead.
Now with body cameras, we will soon have a file of videos showing police being attacked while they are prudently doing their jobs. In the last few weeks, we have witnessed the funerals of too many police officers who died simply because they chose to protect and serve their communities.
Only when each of us sees the other in the same light as we see our son or daughter’ our mother or father’ our sister or brother – or friend, will we be able to see each other as an individual not as a stereotype or caricature.
How do we get to this point? I wish I knew.
Benay Curtis-Bauer
This is “creative,” i.e. inaccurate, imprecise, and irresponsible reporting. The fact that the Mercury News used a similar headline is no excuse. The police have clearly stated that there is no evidence that the officers were targeted. An Emeryville publication could easily have checked this out.
Susan, I’ll assume you’re a contributor to the E’ville Eye and not someone who thinks they’re entitled to free news but also thinks their privileged to freely blast them when they make a small error in judgement under a tight timeline. I agree that Rob could of crafted a better headline but if you intelligently read past this blurb, he lays things out pretty clearly and never implied they were “targeted”. I know Rob and know he does his best with the limited resources he has and does this in his free time. Please think of that next time you read his free site.
OK, thanks. Many others made the same error. As an editor as well as a writer, I may be super-attuned to accuracy.
Thanks for your comments. I have updated this post with the latest information including the conclusion that the EPD does not think the officers were “targeted”. Yeah, my “news Bureau” is basically my laptop & my bike along with a few other neighbors that care about our community. We do our best to fill in the news gaps left by the larger Bay Area media (which is a lot in this city!).
If there is a bang and an object identified as a bullet of 9 mm in diameter strike near your location its not a fire cracker. A bullet of such mass carries upon impact great force in damages.
Its unacceptable to target people because they are in police uniform.
Those officers have a duty to protect us at large, they also experience fears for their lives and others and react accordingly to strict policy guideline. Leave them alone and peace with them.
A ballistic research could determine the approximate initial trajectory and determine with uncertainty its origin if it was accidental or with intent to harm or provoke fears.
It would be interesting to know, the equation has many know factors and the police should concentrate in finding an answer for everybody peace in mind.
Andre’