Attorney: Oakland police sergeant acted in self-defense in fatal shooting

OAKLAND — An Oakland police sergeant fatally shot a man Tuesday morning near City Hall after the man confronted him with a pistol and they exchanged gunfire, according to the sergeant’s attorney.

On Friday, the police department identified the man killed as Lloyd Dillard but did not provide an age or place of residence for him. The sergeant’s name has still not been released.

The shooting happened about 4 a.m. Tuesday near the intersection of 16th Street and San Pablo Avenue.

The sergeant, who works in the Internal Affairs Division, which has its office nearby, had just parked his unmarked police car.

The sergeant’s attorney, Harry Stern, of Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, a law firm that frequently represents law enforcement officers, said the sergeant told him the man began pounding on the trunk of the car.

Stern declined to identify the sergeant, but said he got out of the car to investigate and the other man “for no apparent reason pointed a pistol at him.”

The sergeant ducked back inside the car to try and get away but “was forced to engage in a close quarters gunfight with the suspect who fired at least two shots at him,” Stern said.

The sergeant, who eventually got out of the car, fired more than one shot at the man, Stern said.

Dillard was pronounced dead at the scene. The sergeant was not injured.

The gun the man had was recovered at the scene.

Stern said, “It’s clear the sergeant had no other choice but to defend himself when he was attacked. It was one of the most harrowing incidents I’ve seen, even in the context of the out-of-control crime in the city of Oakland.”

The sergeant, who has more than 20 years on the force, is on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated. Those conducting investigations include the police department, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and the Community Police Review Agency.

The investigations will include review of video surveillance of the shooting.

Except for minimum details released the day of the shooting, neither the police department or city officials have released any additional information. Responding to a request Thursday for more information, Mayor Sheng Thao’s office referred the request to the police department. The only new information released was the dead man’s name.