Tuesday News Roundup
MAN SUSPECTED OF KILLING HIS 24-YEAR-OLD NEPHEW AT SUNNYDALE PUBLIC HOUSING COMPLEX ARRESTED
A 57-year-old man suspected of killing his 24-year-old nephew on Friday at the Sunnydale public housing complex in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley neighborhood has been arrested, police said Monday night.
Police said witness statements and evidence led to the arrest of San Francisco resident Broderick Douglas on Saturday.
Officers said Broderick Douglas is the uncle of the deceased man, Marcus Douglas, who was also a San Francisco resident.
Police officers found Marcus Douglas suffering from severe head trauma shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday when they responded to a home in the 1500 block of Sunnydale Avenue near McLaren Park to conduct a well-being check on a citizen.
Police initially reported that Marcus Douglas was found deceased inside the residence, but police have since clarified that Marcus Douglas was found suffering from severe head trauma when officers arrived.
While emergency aid was rendered to the victim, he was ultimately pronounced deceased at the scene, police said.
The case was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner but the cause of Marcus Douglas’ death has not been determined.
During the course of the investigation, police determined that a possible suspect had fled the scene in a red vehicle Friday prior to their arrival.
On Saturday, Broderick Douglas was arrested in the 1400 block of Palou Avenue in the Bayview District and was booked into San Francisco County Jail for the murder of his nephew, according to police.
The motive for the homicide remains under investigation.
Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the San Francisco Police Department’s anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or to send a tip by text message to TIP411 with “SFPD” in the message.
THREE SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH BAYVIEW SHOOTING
Three suspects who attempted to flee following a shooting in San Francisco’s Bayview District on Saturday evening have been arrested, a police spokeswoman said.
While police initially arrested two suspects and recovered two guns, San Francisco police spokeswoman Grace Gatpandan said a third suspect has since been arrested.
Officers responded to the area of Ingalls Street and Revere Avenue at about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday to follow up on a ShotSpotter alert, Gatpandan said.
Upon arrival, officers recovered multiple bullet casings and found a vehicle that had been struck by gunfire, but no injuries were reported, Gatpandan said.
When officers stopped a suspect vehicle in the vicinity of Keith Street and Oakdale Avenue three suspects attempted to flee on foot, according to Gatpandan.
Two suspects were arrested immediately and a third suspect was later located and arrested as well, Gatpandan said.
The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
UNOCCUPIED CAR FOUND ON ROCKS OF YERBA BUENA ISLAND
San Francisco firefighters are trying to determine how an unoccupied car ended up on the rocks of Yerba Buena Island this morning, a fire department spokeswoman said.
The car was reported at about 7:30 a.m. near the lighthouse on the southeast tip of the island, San Francisco fire spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said.
Crews determined the car is unoccupied and investigators “are going to try to figure out how it got there,” Talmadge said.
Yerba Buena Island connects the eastern and western spans of the Bay Bridge and also includes a U.S. Coast Guard station.
FIREFIGHTERS EXTINGUISH CHINATOWN STRUCTURE FIRE, ARSON SUSPECTED
Firefighters extinguished a one-alarm structure fire early this morning in San Francisco’s Chinatown neighborhood and police are considering the blaze as an arson case.
Fire crews received reports of the blaze at 5:11 a.m. in the 700 block of Jackson Street, according to fire department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge.
According to fire officials, the building was abandoned and had been boarded up.
By 5:34 a.m., crews were able to extinguish the fire and there were no reports of any injuries, Talmadge said.
Police said they believe the cause of the fire was arson, but they did not have any suspect information as of this morning.
MAN ARRESTED AFTER SHOOTING AT OFFICERS IS CHARGED WITH TEEN’S MURDER
A San Leandro man arrested after an exchange of gunfire with Hayward police in March has been charged with the murder of an Oakland Technical High School student hours earlier, according to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors filed an amended criminal complaint charging Donald Higgins, 28, with the murder of 14-year-old Davon Ellis on Feb. 28.
Higgins is also charged with seven counts of attempted murder for allegedly shooting at the friends Davon was walking with that evening and shooting at a car full of people in Hayward later in the night.
For allegedly shooting at Hayward police officers who tried to stop him early the next morning, he is charged with two counts each of attempted murder of a police officer and assault with a firearm on a police officer.
Higgins is in Santa Rita Jail without bail and is next scheduled to appear in court for a plea hearing on May 13, according to jail records.
He is accused of shooting at Davon and two of his friends as they were walking on the sidewalk in the 3300 block of Brookdale Avenue at 7:50 p.m. on Feb. 28. Davon was struck by the gunfire and taken to a hospital where he died, police said.
Less than two hours later, at about 9:30 p.m., Hawyard police responded to the area of Mission Boulevard and Harder Road on reports of a shooting.
They found five victims at the California State University East Bay campus who said a man in a white Infiniti SUV had fired two rounds at their car. None of the victims were injured, but there were two bullet holes in the car’s passenger-side door, according to Hayward police.
Just before 2 a.m. on March 1, Hayward police spotted a white 2004 Infiniti FX that matched the description provided by the shooting victims.
They followed the vehicle while waiting for backup until it suddenly pulled into a parking lot on D Street just south of Meek Avenue, police said.
Higgins got out of the Infiniti and allegedly opened fire on the Hayward officers. One officer returned fire and Higgins fled into nearby yards, police said.
As he fled, he briefly encountered another officer and fired at least one more round at him, according to police. No officers were hit by the gunfire but a patrol car’s headlight was shot out.
Hayward police set up a perimeter to search for Higgins and spent the next 12 hours doing a yard-to-yard search of the neighborhood. The officers eventually discovered his brother and mother lived in a residence next to the parking lot where he had fled. His mother told police Higgins was inside the home, police said.
After a brief standoff, Higgins ran from the home’s back door and toward a backyard fence. Police used a stun gun to subdue and arrest him, according to police.
Police searched the home where he’d been hiding and found a loaded Glock 9mm handgun with a 30-round magazine. The gun’s bullets matched casings recovered at both Hayward shooting scenes, police said.
He was arrested and quickly charged with shooting at the officers.
While in custody, Oakland police investigators connected him with the shooting that killed Davon, a ninth-grade student at Oakland Tech.
Oakland police Chief Sean Whent said on March 5 that investigators had identified a person of interest in Davon’s murder, but did not identify the person. No suspect in Davon’s murder was identified until today.
Oakland police investigators have not elaborated on how they connected Higgins to that shooting, except that “evidence and statements” indicate Higgins was the person who shot Davon.
