Pleasant Hill's mayor on Monday defended the tactics of local police last week, when they surrounded the house of a former Pittsburg police officer who shot his wife on Thursday, then apparently left early Friday morning without arresting him.
Police shut down the Sherman Acres neighborhood around 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Chunliam Saechao, 40, had barricaded himself in his home at 227 Cleopatra Drive after shooting his wife once with a shotgun through a closed door.
She was taken to a hospital and released over the weekend after being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Police brought in the county SWAT team and hostage negotiators, who later were ordered to stand down around 2 a.m. for what police said was a cooling-down period. By Friday morning, the shelter-in-place order for the neighborhood was lifted, with Saechao still inside his home.
The shelter-in-place order was re-issued at 5:30 p.m. Police also closed Monument Boulevard at Interstate Highway 680, as well as Marcia Drive, in both directions, causing traffic to back-up on the freeway.
Early Saturday morning, Saechao fired several shots from a rifle and shotgun at police armored vehicles. He finally surrendered to police at 7:52 a.m. Saturday and the shelter-in-place was lifted at about 9:24 a.m.
In a letter released Monday, Mayor Matt Rinn said he wanted to provide insight in hopes of giving "some closure and peace of mind regarding how the situation was handled."
"While the incident involving Mr. Saechou was stressful, the mindful and strategic actions of the Pleasant Hill Police Department and our cooperating agencies allowed for the situation to be resolved peacefully and without any further injury or loss of life," Rinn wrote. "While events like this are understandably frightening for neighbors and certainly disruptive to the larger community, I support the tactics employed by the police department."
Rinn stated that the tactics included allowing for a cooling-down period. "To achieve this, the SWAT team was temporarily recalled while other resources remained on scene. Based on the PHPD's assessment, it was determined that Mr. Saechou's intent was to force a violent encounter with law enforcement. De-escalating and giving Mr. Saechou time to calm down ultimately led to him safely surrendering."
Rinn said during that time, police "remained vigilant and on task protecting the safety of the neighborhood using a variety of resources, including undercover officers, specialized surveillance equipment, and other technology. A police presence was maintained near Mr. Saechou's house throughout the two days."
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Rinn also wrote that police "monitored the suspect's social media communications and attempted to speak with him via those same channels. When it became clear from these communications that his threat level was increasing, the SWAT teams and other officers were brought back in to prevent any further violence."
Rinn said the police tactics were successful, "as Mr. Saechou did voluntarily surrender himself into custody in a manner that safeguarded himself, the neighborhood, and the law enforcement officers on scene."
The Pleasant Hill police chief said he has no regrets on how his department handled the situation.
“Let me be clear, as a police officer, and as a chief of police, I never take a gamble with public safety. We make decisions and we make those difficult decisions with the best possible outcome," said Chief Scott Vermillion. “Even though the tactical unit left, we were still using a lot of resources to monitor and keep the public safe,” said Vermillion. “We believe from the very beginning, and it never change that his intention was law enforcement to have a shoot out and kill, law-enforcement, and die by suicide by cop.”
“He was literally rolling the dice at the public safety,” said Michael Leininger, retired San Jose Police Department security consultant. “As the chief of police as a law-enforcement officer you do not have the right to risk the safety of the public. The right thing to do would’ve been to evacuate that neighborhood.”
Many Neighbors say they feel they were kept in the dark and put in serious danger.
“I just wish they never left during the first night that it happened. I felt it just put everybody in somewhat of danger knowing the guy is heavily armed and he’s having that mental crisis or whatever,” said Kevin, who lives in the area.
One woman said she walked to the house to see what was going on, not knowing he was still holed up inside and posting scary messages on social media
“There was no police officers no cars no unmarked cars nothing no one stopped us from walking there,” she said.
"I know this situation created difficulties for the Sherman Acres neighborhood and I regret the stress and inconvenience caused," Rinn wrote. " Many have asked for greater communication during the situation, unfortunately, that could not be achieved without also informing Mr. Saechou of police presence and activities. Understanding this, I am still pleased that the ultimate result was a good one and that a person undergoing a mental health crisis was safely removed and taken into custody."
