Questions remain after reported home invasion, police shooting that left suspect dead

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Bakersfield police say a woman called them after hearing voices in her home Oct. 2, and when officers got there they found a man the homeowner did not know inside the home.

Police say the man “became assaultive toward the officers, resulting in an officer involved shooting”. Officers were outside of the house and entered with a police dog after the shooting.

They took the suspect into custody and he was pronounced dead at Kern Medical.

A neighbor who lives a few houses down on Blomquist Drive said she heard gunshots.

“I just heard a few gunshots,” said Jessica Varnell, a neighbor. “Then, a couple minutes went by and I heard a few more gunshots after I came outside.”

The video backs up Varnell’s statements. You can hear three gunshots at first, then two more after the video cut.

Bakersfield Police Department Public Information Officer Eric Celedon said officers were speaking to the suspect through a window and the suspect had improvised weapons, with one being a screwdriver. Officers said he began to hurl objects at officers.

Celedon said officers tried to use less than lethal measures including tear gas, impact rounds and tasers. Officers then fired their weapons from outside into the room the suspect was hiding.

The K-9 unit was used as a less than lethal measure after the suspect was hit to assist in the arrest. Officers sustained minor injuries due to broken glass from the window and the homeowner, who made the call, was unharmed.

Celedon said BPD won’t release the names of the officers who fired at this time.

This is now the 7th officer-involved shooting in Kern County since the start of 2024, with three of them involving Bakersfield police. Two were fatal.

Four of them involved KCSO and three of those were fatal.

In 2023, there were 9 officer involved shootings total and seven of those were BPD, while two were KCSO shootings. Four of those shootings were fatal.

The suspect and officers have yet to be identified. There are still some pending questions in this case including confirmation on how many shots were fired and what other types of improvised weapons did the suspect have?

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