Deputies shoot murder suspect several times in violent end to standoff

A man described as a suspect in an Oakland murder earlier this year was shot and killed Friday by Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies following a prolonged standoff at a motel in Castro Valley, a sheriff’s office spokesman said.

Deputies were called at about 11:30 a.m. to assist Oakland police in trying to arrest the man at the Valley Inn Motel at 17130 Foothill Blvd.

Deputies contacted the man, who was in a second floor room at the northeast corner of the motel and advised him they had a warrant for murder. The man refused to comply with commands to surrender, instead using furniture to barricade the door and windows of the room.

He also tried to break through a wall into an adjoining room, said Sgt. Ray Kelly of the sheriff’s office, but finally emerged around 4:30 p.m., waving a black semiautomatic firearm and firing at least one shot at deputies.

Deputies returned fire, hitting the 42-year-old suspect multiple times, Kelly said. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

The identity of the man is not being released at this time, but Kelly said he was one of two suspects being sought in an Oakland murder earlier this year.

The hotel was largely vacant due to novel coronavirus restrictions and any remaining people were cleared from the building before the standoff, Kelly said.

No officers or members of the public were injured.

The shooting is being investigated by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office homicide unit and the county district attorney.