This morning [Thursday, June 2], a large scale hunt for a man police are saying shot two officers in Fremont, California has turned into hours of negotiating as the suspect has barricaded himself into a home in an intense standoff with police.
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It wasn’t known whether Villabrille died because of a blaze sparked after tear gas canisters were lobbed into the home, or as a result of a gunfight with police on Wednesday, Fremont police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques said. Tear gas was sacked into the home around 2:15 a.m. The suspect was able to resist coming out.
Fremont police have not released the names of the officers.
Bosques told reporters that the home did not belong to Villabrille and the homeowner was not inside at the time.
The suspect backed his vehicle into the police auto at which point shots were exchanged, according to police.
In addition to several Fremont police officers, members of Danville, San Jose and East Palo Alto police departments have come by, some bearing food for family members and flowers. “It’s the Garden of Eden”.
Multiple suspects fled the traffic stop, but only one of them is believed to have shot at police. According to the department’s Officer Down Memorial Page, no officer has ever died in the line of duty.
The Oakland police SWAT team is taking over for the Alameda County sheriff’s office, who has been out here since 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when this all started. Then police say he went over a fence and onto Roberts Avenue where shots were fired again and a second officer was wounded. The 10-year veteran of the force managed to return fire, but was hit twice during the exchange, Bosques said. Kelly said his department has taken over tactical command of the scene while Fremont deals with its two fallen officers. The officer in critical condition is said to be a relatively new hire with just one year of experience with the department. A law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case, identified the victim as William Klug.
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The standoff followed a 10-hour manhunt involving hundreds of law-enforcement personnel, who barricaded streets, conducted “slow and methodical” door-to-door searches and ordered residents to stay in their homes after two officers were shot in separate incidents. Another told the station of how he and others had barricaded the doors of a restaurant so that a man running toward them could not enter.
