Riverside Police Department Press Release

Officer Involved Shooting
 

Riverside, Ca-  On Wednesday April 9, 2003 at about 2:55 p.m. two citizens contacted the Riverside Police Department after they saw a man kneeling next to a parked police car in the City Hall parking lot located 3900 Main Street. The man was holding a knife and appeared to be vandalizing the police vehicle. The couple confronted the man who immediately stood up and walked away. They were unsure if the car had been damaged and reported the incident to the police. The couple said the man appeared to be a transient and was pushing a shopping cart.

An officer located the man as he walked on the Main Street Mall near University Avenue. The man refused to stop and talk to the officer about the alleged vandalism incident. The officer saw him holding a knife and broadcast a request for additional police officers. The man did not comply with numerous commands to stop. He walked Eastbound on University Avenue and then Northbound on Orange Street. While doing so, he walked in the middle of traffic lanes and created a traffic hazard.

Two additional officers arrived near University Avenue and Orange Street. The three officers followed the man on foot as he continued to yell, act irrational, and display a second knife. One of the officers retrieved a less lethal shotgun from his police car.

The officers believed the man posed a danger to public safety. In an attempt to gain the man’s compliance, an officer fired the less lethal shotgun near the intersection of Orange Street and Mission Inn Blvd. The man did not comply. He turned and advanced quickly toward the officers as he held two knives.

Fearing for his safety and the safety of his partner officers, an officer fired his handgun toward the man. The subject was struck and fell to the ground where he was handcuffed. Medical aid was immediately requested. No officers or citizens were injured.

The man was transported to Riverside Community Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. He was later booked into the jail ward at Riverside County Regional Medical Center. He is facing charges of Assault With a Deadly Weapon on a Police Officer.

The man was identified as 40 year-old Alexander William Schert of Riverside.

Anyone with information related to this investigation is urged to call Detective Sanfilippo at 909-3230-8051 or Detective Brandt at 320-8000.