Update, 12:55 p.m. Wednesday: BART has released more details of the events that led to the fatal shooting of Police Sgt. Tom Smith during a search for a robbery suspect in the East Bay town of Dublin.
Here's the Bay Area News Group's summary of details disclosed Wednesday by BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey and other law-enforcement officials:
The robbery suspect, John Henry Lee, 20, was in custody at Santa Rita Jail and not home when the shooting happened; Rainey said seven BART officers and one Dublin police officer were at the scene.
Alameda County Sheriff's Office Sgt. J.D. Nelson, whose agency is investigating the shooting, said the officers converged on the Park Sierra Apartments, at 6450 Dougherty Road, at just before 2 p.m. Tuesday. [According to Rainey, the officers were aware Lee was in custody and were looking for a stolen laptop computer, among other items.] They began their search by knocking twice on the door; each knock went unanswered, but the door was unlocked, so four BART officers including Smith stepped inside, Nelson said. Not knowing whether anyone was inside the single-story, one-bedroom apartment, the officers followed protocol and entered with their guns drawn.
Nelson said that once inside, one of the officers fired a single shot from his weapon, wounding Smith in the upper body. Rainey said Smith was dressed in plainclothes and wore a bulletproof vest.
Smith later died at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Nelson said the officer who fired the shot has more than 10 years experience in law enforcement. Rainey said BART officers typically carry Glock semi-automatic handguns, although some are permitted to carry different weapons.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that suspect John Henry Lee was wanted for a series of robberies that occurred on BART property and that he'd been arrested last Thursday in Oakland: "[Lee] was bitten by a police dog and arrested by San Leandro police Thursday after officials said he led officers on a 20-minute chase into Oakland. Lee had been armed with a handgun and was driving a Honda stolen from a BART lot, police said."
Chief Rainey issued a statement on the shooting this morning and praised Smith as "a great law enforcement officer, but an even better son, brother, husband, father and friend."
Here's KTVU's raw video of Rainey's Wednesday morning press conference on the shooting:
Original post (Tuesday):