COPS REFUSED TO LET HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR GET OFF THE FIRST SHOT

Family suing Oakland PD for gunning down their son when he never got off a shot at the cops chasing him

Bob Walsh says: “Apparently there is considerable thought in the criminal family community that the bad guys have to be able to shoot at the cops first before the cops can shoot. Hell, in Oakland it might even fly.”

MAN KILLED BY OAKLAND COP WAS HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR, FELON
By Henry K. Lee

San Francisco Chronicle
May 9, 2012

A man shot and killed by an Oakland police officer was a high school senior set to graduate in June who had a felony conviction for burglary, officials said.

Alan Blueford, 18, was shot after he pointed a gun at the officer early Sunday during a chase near 92nd Avenue and Birch Street in East Oakland, police said.

An attorney for the teenager's family said Tuesday that the shooting wasn't justified because Blueford hadn't fired any shots. He also voiced skepticism that Blueford had pointed the gun at the officer.

The incident began when police saw Blueford and two companions on the 1900 block of 90th Avenue shortly after midnight and suspected Blueford was hiding a gun, said Sgt. Chris Bolton, chief of staff for Chief Howard Jordan.

Blueford ran and pointed a gun at the officer, who responded with four shots, Bolton said.

Three shots hit Blueford, and the fourth hit the officer in the leg, police said. The officer's name has not been released.

Blueford died at Highland Hospital in Oakland. Officers recovered his gun, Bolton said.

He was on felony probation for a burglary conviction from San Joaquin County, Bolton said.

The officer was treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. He is on paid administrative leave pending investigations by police and the Alameda County district attorney's office.

John Burris, a civil rights attorney in Oakland retained by Blueford's family, said Tuesday that the shooting was unjustified because Blueford hadn't fired at the officer.

"Only the officer was doing the shooting," Burris said. "The fact that a gun was found is not dispositive. The question is, how was the gun used in any way toward the officer? It's inconceivable to me that a man would run and turn and point the gun at an officer and not shoot the gun."

Burris said Blueford had not committed any crime and had probably run because he was on probation.

"He was afraid and he ran, and they gunned him down," Blueford's mother, Jeralynn Blueford, said Tuesday. "And now they're saying that he shot at the police. That's not his personality. He was respectful of adults. He was respectful of his elders. He never disrespected authority and things of that nature."

Blueford was due to graduate in June from Skyline High School in Oakland and had just attended his senior prom. He enjoyed playing basketball and football and had expressed an interest in pursuing a career as an X-ray technician after breaking his arm in October, his mother said.

She said she wanted her son to be remembered for "his infectious smile, his friendliness, his willingness to help other people and his outgoing personality."