Homeless man says he had warned Oakland cops about gunman

Homeless man says he had warned Oakland cops about gunman

A man who allegedly fired a gun at neighbors and police near the Oakland Zoo and Bishop O’Dowd High School — prompting officers to fatally shoot him — could have been apprehended three days earlier after he turned his rifle on a man who had been sleeping in a car, that man said Thursday.

Patrick Reddic, appearing at a news conference with civil rights attorney John Burris, said he reported alleged gunman Jesse Enjaian to Oakland police on Feb. 14 but was handcuffed and mistreated as a homeless, disabled black man.

Police said the 32-year-old Enjaian, who spray-painted an obscene image on a car and pointed his gun toward a news helicopter, opened fire on responding officers, forcing one to return fire.

Back outside the Camry, which had shattered glass, Reddic said police gave him two options: leave the scene or be arrested — even though his tires were blown out by the gunfire.

Officer Johnna Watson, a police spokeswoman, said in a statement that the department opened internal investigations into how police handled two earlier incidents on the 9500 block of Las Vegas Avenue — on Feb. 10 and Feb. 14.

A separate internal probe was opened into the police shooting of Enjaian, which will also be investigated by the Alameda County district attorney’s office.