CALIFORNIA BEAT PHOTO

By TIM JUE
Beat Staff Writer

UPDATE (07/16/2009 16:12PM) — Authorities have identified the dead man as 36 year-old Parnell Smith, a wanted parolee that police say was stopped because he resembled the description of an individual wanted for rape. The Chronicle identifies the two officers who opened fire as Phong Tran and Scott Hewitt assigned to the department’s problem-solving unit — officers assigned to tackle a specific problem within a community. Both officers are on administrative leave as the investigation into the shooting continues.

OAKLAND — A gun-toting man was shot and killed by Oakland Police officers in the city’s San Antonio District Wednesday afternoon after a wild shoot out and chase that sent area residents ducking for cover.

The shooting occurred at 3:00 p.m. near the intersection of International Blvd. and 16th Avenue near Oakland’s “New Chinatown” commercial district.

According to Oakland Police Spokesman Officer Jeffery Thomason, two uniformed patrol officers attempted to stop a man to question him when the individual pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and began firing at them.

The officers chased the man down 16th Avenue. The suspect was shot and killed after the officers returned fire.

It remains unclear tonight why the officers wanted to question the man. His identity has yet to be released by the Alameda County Coroner’s Office.

At 8:00 p.m., hours after the shooting, a four block section around the shooting scene remained blocked off. Investigators were seen combing the area for clues and taking measurements of the shooting scene.

Neighbors the California Beat spoke with said they saw a large commotion and figured that it was a police officer chasing after a criminal. But many said they had to find cover when they heard shots ring out.

None of the neighbors said they knew who the dead man was.

This is Oakland’s third officer involved shooting in 2009. There were 10 in 2008.

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