Update: Sunday, 1 PM: OPD has identified the dead man as Fred Collins, a 48 year old black male and resident of Oakland. 

 A man was shot and killed Saturday morning by at least five Oakland and BART police officers. The shooting occurred Saturday morning after 8 a.m. after Oakland Police dispatchers received a call that a man was armed on the 3200 block of E 12^th Street, according to police. OPD dispatchers notified BART police, who had two officers in the area, police said.

Two BART police off approached a man “matching the description,” police said, and the man ran away. Police chased the man for several blocks and caught the man, they said, and attempted to Tase him. The Taser had “no effect” police said. The man ran again, but was caught again by police. The second Taser also had no effect on the man, police said.

He allegedly charged at officers with knives in each hand, police said, before multiple officers pummeled the man with bullets. Some reports state the man yelled, “Shoot me, shoot me!”

First responders arrived to the scene where the unidentified man was pronounced dead, police said. The man has yet to be identified, witnesses described as a dark-skinned man in his late 30s or early 40s, either Black or Latino, and possibly homeless. Most residents; however, only saw the man’s body covered in a blue tarp.

Witnesses described the sound of the bullets as sounding like firecrackers. Most residents were asleep at the time, and many were woken by the gunfire. 

Police cordoned off 33^rd Ave at Farnam Street (south end) and E. 16^th Street (north) until mid-afternoon, only letting residents with ID passed the police line. Numerous mainstream media vans were present even setting up cones.

As news travelled of the incident, many conflicting accounts began to emerge. Some said the shooting was part of a bank robbery at the nearby Chase Bank (formerly Washington Mutual on E. 14^th). Another said the man was standing near the Chase Bank parking lot, on Farnam, showing his hands to officers saying, “Don’t shoot me!”

One witness said that the man shot at police multiple times while he ran, then police began shooting back.

A video of the shooting was apparently captured on video, but has not yet reached news outlets or You Tube. The Oakland officers have been placed on paid administrative leave,  standard practice after an officer-involved shooting. The BART officers were expected to be put on paid leave also, said BART spokesman Linton Johnson.

The shooting comes a little over a week after former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for shooting Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale BART Station. The shooting, captured on cell phone video, led to community outrage after it appeared officials were attempting to cover up the shooting.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, who was criticized for his silence the week after the unarmed Grant was shot, issued a statement with BART.

"Anytime there is a loss of life, it is a matter of great concern and sadness for us all,” Dellums said. “A thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding this death has begun."

A joint letter from BART directors Bob Franklin and Carole Ward Allen said, “The BART police Department is cooperating fully with the Oakland Police Department who has the lead in the investigation into today’s officer involved shooting.” The statement adds that a separate administrative investigation has been launched as well.

It is not certain what the status of the BART officers involved is now. In addition to Mehserle, two of the BART officers involved in the slaying of Oscar Grant were put on paid administrative leave, stacking over $100,000, until they were fired this past spring over 13 months later.

The BART Board of Directors established a BART Police Department Review Committee in response to the murder of Oscar Grant. Working with community members, legislation was created to change BART’s charter with the state to get Civilian Oversight of the BART Police Department. Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 1586, authored by Sandre Swanson, on Thursday. The law will not go into effect until January 1, 2011. Activists accused BART and Swanson of watering the bill down because it faced opposition to all of the state’s law enforcement associations and was weaker than a similar bill authored by Tom Ammiano and Leland Yee.

In an open letter on Facebook, Allen said “We want to assure you that nothing less than our full attention will be devoted to completing the investigation and initiating efforts to restore community trust in a transparent manner.”

When community residents were told about what occurred – that BART police were involved in a shooting with Black or Brown man – the most common response was; another one?

Editor's Note: OL is tracking this story at http://oaklandlocal.com/justice. If you have tips ot commentary to contribute, email editor@oaklandlocal.com