Authorities Monday released a video of the fatal shooting by a San Diego Police Department sergeant of a San Carlos man who raised a BB pistol toward officers and told them to shoot him during a confrontation last month at the suspect’s home.
SDPD Sgt. Zachary Pfannenstiel opened fire on 60-year-old Andrew Farnham in the 6500 block of Bonnie View Drive on the afternoon of March 30. Farnham died at a hospital the following day.
The events that led to the deadly law enforcement gunfire began shortly after 4 p.m., when Farnham, posing as his 91-year-old father, made a 911 call to report that “his son” — referring to himself — had a gun and was “waving it around.”
Arriving in the neighborhood near Lake Murray, patrol personnel found Farnham’s father outside the home, took him into protective custody and began to devise a plan to safely detain the suspect, SDPD Lt. Andra Brown said.
A short time later, as police sought to get more specific information about the situation from the elder man, the suspect walked into his open garage, carrying what appeared to be a firearm, Brown said.
Farnham ignored repeated orders to drop the gun and repeatedly said “shoot me” before pointing the black pistol toward officers taking cover behind their patrol vehicles, guns drawn and aimed at him.
Pfannenstiel, a 14-year member of the SDPD assigned to the department’s police-dog unit, responded by firing three rounds at Farnham, who collapsed onto the floor of his garage next to a parked car.
Though gravely wounded, Farnham continued to hold on to the gun while writhing around on the ground. Officers eventually sent in a service dog whose bites forced the suspect to let go of the weapon, which investigators subsequently determined was a BB gun.
City News Service contributed to this article.