Man killed by Oakland police after shooting at people & cars

Jesse Enjaian, a 32-year-old computer science engineer, died in Highland Hospital yesterday after a bizarre standoff where he fired a .22 caliber rifle at his East Oakland neighbors, a news helicopter, and Oakland police officers.

No one besides Enjain – who was arrested after being shot by the police – was injured.

Records obtained by the Express, however, reveal that the Oakland police had responded to two reports of gunfire involving Enjaian in the past eight days. The police did not arrest or detain him on either occasion, despite physical evidence and witness statements.

What's more, neither shooting appears in the official daily log, which is released by OPD. Only the Friday shooting that ended in Enjaian's death is noted — even though all three were documented by officers.

According to police records, the first shooting occurred on Friday, February 10. Officer Brent McCord received a dispatch call for suspected gunfire in the vicinity of Enjaian's house, at 9512 Las Vegas Avenue in East Oakland. Upon arriving, McCord noticed a gray Lexus sedan with a bullet hole in one of its windows.

Two other officers, Yusuf Ghazi and Timothy Latibeaudiere, arrived on the scene and helped McCord recover five .22 caliber shell casings from the front yard of 9512 Las Vegas Avenue. These casings were booked as evidence.

At the scene on Friday, the owner of the Lexus approached Officer McCord and told the him that his vehicle had been shot up while he was at a gathering with family and friends down the street.

Another woman who spoke with Officer Latibeaudiere said she only heard gunfire and not seen it, but told the him that Enjaian was the occupant of 9512 Las Vegas Avenue, where they found the casings on the porch. McCord's entire canvas of the scene on February 10 was recorded by his body-worn video camera. Shotspotter did not record the sounds of gunfire.

The next morning, Officer McCord went back to Las Vegas Avenue around 10 a.m. and spoke with the same woman. She told the officer she believed that her neighbor was the shooter, and pointed at Enjaian, who was mowing his front lawn.

McCord wrote in his report that, when he approached Enjaian, the 32-year-old "was very hostile and stated 'get off my property' and 'I won't speak to you unless I have my lawyer present.'"

At that point, McCord broke off contact with Enjaian. Dispatch records indicate McCord did not believe there was sufficient probable cause to arrest him.

Yet three days later, there was another report of a car shot on the 9500 block of Las Vegas Avenue.

According to police records, Officer Victor Garcia was sent to investigate. When he arrived, he was contacted by a man who had been sleeping in his car. With his body-worn camera activated, Garcia interviewed the man, who said gunshots shattered the front passenger window. The man ran out of his car and, searching for help, noticed a man standing outside of his home.

That man was Enjaian.

The man ran toward Enjaian's house, asking for help. Enjaian, who was already behind the security gate, allegedly yelled "Get the fuck away from my door you fucking nigger! Yeah, I shot your window and I got my gun right here!" this according to witness statement.

The man who was sleeping in the car ran away from Enjaian's house, calling for help. He told Officer Garcia that he had seen an object in Enjaian's hands, but wasn't sure if it was a gun.

Other officers arrived on the scene, and took the victim to OPD's Seventh Street headquarters for interviews with the Criminal Investigations Division.

The ranking official at the scene, Sergeant Millie Oliver, told officers to "clear the scene in order to avoid contact with Enjaian to prevent further escalating the situation and to wait for the warrant before making contact," according to police records. No evidence technicians were called to the scene, nor was an evidence canvas conducted.

No warrant was issued for Enjaian's arrest, nor was there a search of his house.

 Officer Garcia's summary of the incident, however, is unusual: His statement suggests in very candid terms that Enjaian committed a felony: "Based on my initial investigation it appears that [Enjaian] shot at least to rounds from an unknown firearm at [the victim's] vehicle as he slept in it," Garcia wrote. "Enjaian went back into his house as [the victim] not knowing [Enjaian] was involved asked for his help. Enjaian told [the victim] to get away from his door and admitted to shooting his window out and being armed with a gun."

Enjaian, a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Georgia, and the University of Michigan's School of Law, has a checkered past. He was enrolled in the UCLA Army ROTC program, but dropped out after an apparent change of conscience.

While in law school, he was investigated by University of Michigan police for stalking a female student. He lost a lawsuit in 2014, in which he claimed his Fourth Amendment rights were violated when police seized his computer. He lost another lawsuit claiming he was defamed by the National Law Journal for publishing a story about the stalking allegations.

In recent days Enjaian, who is white, made several social-media posts laden with racial overtones. According to Twitter records show he tweeted on January 26: "So it's true...Mexicans do burrow like wet rats." The Twitter account has since been suspended by Twitter.

Neighbors called police about 9 a.m. to report a man firing a rifle in the 9500 block of Las Vegas Avenue off 98th Avenue and Golf Links Road in Oakland, said Officer Johnna Watson, an Oakland Police Department spokeswoman.
Enjaian, a graduate of UCLA, attended law school at the University of Michigan, where he was investigated for stalking a student, according to court records.


The stalking victim submitted a complaint that Enjaian had a gun and had expressed interest in using it in an “act of mass homicide.”
When officers arrived at the scene Friday, the man began shooting at them, and one Oakland officer returned fire, Watson said. Watson would not release the gunman’s name, but neighbors identified him as Enjaian.

“This is extremely concerning for the Oakland Police Department,” Watson said. “We have a lot of traffic that comes through this area. We also have several schools in the area.”
A motive for the shooting was under investigation. Helicopter video from KGO-TV showed a man with a rifle pointing the weapon out of the second story of a home, spray-painting what appeared to be eyes onto the garage door of a different home, and spray-painting an obscene picture on a car.
The California Highway Patrol was notified at 9:14 a.m. that an active shooter prompted a closure of eastbound I-580 at Golf Links Road, officials said. The agency reported shortly before 10 a.m. that the suspect was detained by the Oakland Police Department and the interstate was reopened. Video also showed a police car with what appeared to be bullet holes in the windshield.

“At first I thought (the bullets were) firecrackers. Then I thought, ‘How odd. This is usually not a day for firecrackers.’ Then I heard police cars coming, and I thought, ‘They’re coming here, aren’t they?’” said Cheryl Delahoussaye, Enjaian’s neighbor, who added that she saw Enjaian vandalizing homes in the neighborhood before police stopped him.

Barack Obama Academy was evacuated, and Bishop O’Dowd High School was put on lockdown after police called and asked those inside to shelter in place. The shooter was firing at officers on the south side of the school, Watson said.

On- and off-ramps for eastbound and westbound I-580 on 98th street in Oakland were reopened by about 3 p.m., almost six hours after the shooting.

Who shot who? Hunters vs Immigrants

Two hunters accused in a shooting on a remote Texas ranch near the Mexican border had told authorities that they were attacked by immigrants who had entered the country illegally.
Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez said that a grand jury indicted Michael Bryant and Walker Daugherty last week on charges of using deadly conduct by discharging firearms in the direction of others.
The charges stem from a Jan. 6 incident where police responding to call about a shooting on a ranch near Candelaria found Daugherty and another man in the hunting party, Edwin Roberts, with gunshot wounds. The men were part of a group of hunters and told authorities they were attacked by people who had illegally crossed the nearby border and tried to steal an RV some of the hunters were using.
An investigation found that Daugherty shot Roberts and Bryant shot Daugherty, Dominguez said.
The hunters' claim became fodder for a Facebook post by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who wrote the attack was another reason why a wall must be built to secure the Texas border to halt "violent criminals and members of drug cartels coming in."
Dominguez at the time suggested the agriculture commissioner "needs to do his job and stick to that, and I'll do my job."
Miller has attracted attention for his social media posts, and his comments about the West Texas shooting were shared more than 6,500 times before being deleted.
Authorities say about 30 law enforcement officers searched the perimeter of the ranch where the hunters were staying, didn't find signs of people approaching the camp that night and that investigators found no evidence of "cross-border violence."

UNC quarterback charged with rape and more

Charlotte 49ers quarterback Kevin Olsen, brother of Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, was arrested on rape charges Sunday afternoon in Charlotte.
Olsen was charged with felony second-degree forcible rape, cyberstalking, assault on a female and second-degree forced sex.
Charlotte football coach Brad Lambert said Sunday night he was aware of the arrest and that Olsen, a junior, had been suspended from the team.
A statement released by UNC Charlotte said that the allegations against Olsen "appear to involve sexual assault within an existing relationship."
UNC Charlotte said it had been in communication with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police following the arrest Sunday afternoon. Allegations in the case stemmed from an incident that occurred off campus, the university said, but provided no details.
"This incident occurred a week after a separate, unrelated case of alleged on-campus sexual assault involving acquaintances," the university said. "Olsen has been suspended from Charlotte athletics, and the University is reviewing the case consistent with its disciplinary procedures."
Olsen, 22, 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, was booked into the Charlotte Mecklenburg Jail about 4:45 p.m. Sunday.
Olsen's brother, speaking through others, said he had nothing to say.
"Greg has no comment, and asks that people respect his privacy," said Steven Drummond, director of communications for Carolina Panthers.
Olsen started for the 49ers at quarterback in September 2016 in a game against Louisville, hoping to resurrect a career that has been marred with off-field problems and disappointment. However, the 49ers turned the starting job over to Hasaan Klugh on Oct. 9.
A four-star rated quarterback coming out of high school four years ago, Olsen essentially made a mess of his first two stops in college, with an accumulation of reported legal entanglements forcing him out of Miami and, less than a year later, broken team rules ending a brief stay at Towson.
But after a redemptive season at a junior college in California, Olsen landed with the 49ers, hoping to finish his final two years of eligibility.
His parents moved from New Jersey to Cornelius four years ago and his two older brothers — one of them Greg Olsen — also live in Charlotte.
Like his older brothers, Kevin Olsen played for his father and coach Chris Olsen Sr. at Wayne Hills (N.J.) High. Kevin was far younger than Greg (by 10 years) and Chris Jr. (12). Kevin was a water boy and ball boy at Wayne Hills games, all the while watching his dad coach and his big brothers play.
Although Greg ended up at Miami and Chris Jr. at Virginia (both transferring after initially going to Notre Dame), Kevin would eventually be a more highly touted high school player. Despite missing several games with a broken foot during his senior season, Olsen threw for more than 3,400 yards in his career at Wayne Hills.
He would choose to play college ball at Miami over other schools such as Florida State, Arkansas, Michigan, Stanford and South Carolina.
Olsen redshirted at Miami in 2013, and appeared to have won the Hurricanes' starting job for the following season. But he left school in September 2014 after reportedly being suspended multiple times for breaking team rules and failing a drug test. His final transgression at Miami, where he would never play a down, was being charged with DUI and possession of a fake or stolen identification.
Olsen then transferred to the Football Championship Subdivision's Towson, but was thrown off the team in March 2015 for violating team rules, according to the Baltimore Sun. He still hadn't taken a snap in a college football game.
"People are going to say stuff," Olsen said in an August 2016 interview with the Observer. "It's never as good or as bad as what you hear. I won't dwell on the past. People who dwell on things never emerge from that low state. It's got to stop. It's been two years ago now.
"I guess you could say I regret it, probably more for putting my family, friends and coaching staff through it more than anything else. My biggest regret is what I put the people who care about me through over the last two years."
Olsen surfaced last season at Riverside (Calif.) City College.
"I tell all the kids that have made a mistake somewhere else that you have a clean slate here," Tigers coach Tom Craft told the Riverside Press-Enterprise after Olsen arrived. "You can change the way people think. ... You can re-establish your reputation as a person and a player."
Olsen made the most of the faith Craft showed him, throwing for 1,080 yards and 13 touchdowns and completing 56.3 percent of his passes in nine games, sharing time at the position.
Olsen played well enough that he attracted attention from programs such as San Jose State, Eastern Illinois and Colorado State.
In winning Charlotte's quarterback job, Olsen beat out four other quarterbacks, including three — seniors Matt Johnson and Lee McNeill and junior Brooks Barden — who shared the position in 2015.

Female officer resigns after mistaking 'this' for drugs (Read For More)

The Orlando Police officer who arrested a man after mistaking doughnut glaze for methamphetamine resigned a week after she was reprimanded for making false arrest.
Cpl. Shelby Riggs-Hopkins, who worked with the department for about a decade, left her job on Jan 22 to be a stay-at-home mom.
Riggs-Hopkins in December 2015 arrested Daniel Rushing, 65, after she spotted what she thought were drugs on the floorboard of his car. Police spotted him at a 7-11 they’d been monitoring after receiving complaints about drug activity.

Riggs-Hopkins pulled Rushing over and saw a rocky, white substance inside his vehicle.
“I kept telling them, ‘That’s ... glaze from a doughnut,” Rushing told the newspaper. “They tried to say it was crack cocaine at first, then they said, ‘No, it’s meth, crystal meth.’”
Riggs-Hopkins administered three road-side drugs tests — one turned up negative for cocaine while the other two, performed incorrectly, tested positive.
Rushing was strip searched and spent hours in jail before being released on $2,500 bond. A few weeks later lab tests revealed the substance was indeed a sugary glaze and not drugs, according to the newspaper.
Deputy Chief Orlando Rolon admitted after the incident Riggs-Hopkins, nor any of the officers had been trained on how to use the drug test kits.
Since the wrongful arrest, 737 officers have completed the training, with only a couple dozen new hires still waiting to learn how to use the kits, the Sentinel reported.
Riggs-Hopkins was given a written reprimand for making an improper arrest. They found no evidence she acted in bad faith.
Rushing is now suing the city and the manufacturer of the drug test kits.