Oakland police fatally shoot armed suspect after standoff near homeless camp

On July 13, a tense encounter unfolded near a homeless encampment at 40th Avenue and International Boulevard in Oakland, captured on police body-camera footage. The video shows officers repeatedly demanding that 43-year-old Jose Angel Castillo drop two improvised spears, which he ignored while insisting he was doing nothing. As he moved into a parking lot, officers continued issuing commands; Castillo then turned back toward them and, despite being tasered, seized an officer’s weapon.

Two officers responded with gunfire, striking Castillo, who died at the scene. Department policy required the shooters to be placed on administrative leave. Civil-rights lawyer Jim Chanin questioned whether deadly force was justified. This incident marks the department’s second fatal shooting out of three total use-of-force incidents this year, up from one fatal shooting by this date last year.