Police nab suspected cop killer
By Ricci Graham - STAFF WRITER
DALY CITY - Acting on a tip from the suspect's relatives, Daly City police on Tuesday afternoon stormed an apartment complex and arrested a 23-year-old Newark man authorities believe shot and killed a San Leandro officer Monday night.
Between 75 and 100 officers - including members of a SWAT team - surrounded a unit at the Edgeview Terrace Apartments at 406 88th Street and, after tossing a flash-bang bomb into the apartment, took Irving ``Gotti'' Ramirez into custody without further incident.
Authorities said Ramirez - who earlier had been named as a suspect in the fatal shooting of San Leandro police Officer Nels ``Dan'' Niemi in a quiet community in the western edge of the city late Monday night - was asleep by himself inside the apartment when police arrived.
San Leandro Police Lt. Marc DeCoulode said Ramirez was to be taken to San Leandro Tuesday evening and taken into custody in connection with the shooting that rattled this usually quiet community.
``Dan was a caring and dedicated individual,'' San Leandro Police Chief Joe Kitchen said of Neimi at a news conference held before the arrest Tuesday afternoon. ``When you close your eyes and think of your best friend in the seventh grade ... that's Dan Niemi. He was just a very quiet, all-around nice guy.
``This is a terrible, terrible day in the city,'' Kitchen added. Niemi, 42, a former computer network administrator who joined the department three years ago, was shot and killed in what police called ``an unprovoked attack'' while responding to a routine disturbance call just before 11 p.m. Monday.
Kitchen said Niemi had gone to the 14700 block of Doolittle Drive to investigate a report of loud noise and loitering involving a group of juveniles and was talking to a group of three people who live in the area when a white 1995 Ford Thunderbird pulled alongside the officer. Kitchen said one of the two people inside the Thurderbird got out of the car and began a ``casual conversation'' with Niemi, who was outside his patrol car and standing on the sidewalk.
For reasons yet unknown, Lt. Marc DeCoulode said, the man opened fire on Niemi, striking the officer several times at close range. ``There was no indication that it would turn into a violent assault,'' DeCoulode said. By Monday morning, police had identified Ramirez as the suspected gunman and a manhunt ensued the ended in Daly City.
Niemi, who was married and had a 6-year-old daughter and 13-year-old stepson, was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he was pronounced dead at 11:38 p.m.
``It appeared officer Niemi was the intended victim,'' DeCoulode said. ``It was an unprovoked attack.''
Kitchen said he met with Niemi's wife and parents at the hospital around 3 a.m. Tuesday and informed them of the officer's death. ``That was the most gut-wenching period of my career, of my life,'' Kitchen said. DeCoulode said the Thunderbird was found abandoned a short distance away from the shooting scene on Doolittle Drive at Belvedere Avenue, but the suspect was nowhere to be found.
Residents who were in the area initially fled after hearing the crackle of gunfire, but DeCoulode said they returned and identified
A FEW THINGS
IF YOU KILL A COP, THE BEST TO PLACE TO HIDE IS NOT LESS THAN A BLOCK FROM A POLICE STATION....
MY POTNA STAY ACROSS THE STREET FROM WHERE THIS HAPPENED, THEY HAD CHOPPERS AND SWAT OUR IN FULL FORCE...SNIPERS WERE ON HIS ROOF AND NO ONE COULD LEAVE OR ENTER THE BLOCK...WE SITTIN THERE, THEY GETTIN HIGH WHEN HE SAYS..."BLOOD THERES A SWAT TEAM COMIN IN MY BUILDING OH SHIT"
TALK ABOUT SHITTIN YA PANTS WHEN A COP WITH A SNIPER RIFLE SAYS HE NEEDS TO USE THE WINDOW TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE ROOF...I RAN OUT THE BACK WAY THROUGH THE FIRE ESCAPE AND GOT OUT THROUGH THE GARAGE BEFORE THE COP CAME IN BUT I HEARD THEM COMIN UP AND IN HIS HOUSE...HE SAYS THEY WASNT EVEN TRIPPIN OFF THE WEED SMELL...THERE WAS A FULL SWAT TEAM OUTSIDE...THE FEDS...UNDERCOVERS...DAMN NEAR THE ENTIRE DCPD AND BROADMOOR PD...SWAT HAD AR-15'S AND THE TAPED OFF THE BLOCK...AFTER ALL THE DRAMA I MANAGED TO GET THESE PICS WIT MY CAMERA PHONE
By Ricci Graham - STAFF WRITER
DALY CITY - Acting on a tip from the suspect's relatives, Daly City police on Tuesday afternoon stormed an apartment complex and arrested a 23-year-old Newark man authorities believe shot and killed a San Leandro officer Monday night.
Between 75 and 100 officers - including members of a SWAT team - surrounded a unit at the Edgeview Terrace Apartments at 406 88th Street and, after tossing a flash-bang bomb into the apartment, took Irving ``Gotti'' Ramirez into custody without further incident.
Authorities said Ramirez - who earlier had been named as a suspect in the fatal shooting of San Leandro police Officer Nels ``Dan'' Niemi in a quiet community in the western edge of the city late Monday night - was asleep by himself inside the apartment when police arrived.
San Leandro Police Lt. Marc DeCoulode said Ramirez was to be taken to San Leandro Tuesday evening and taken into custody in connection with the shooting that rattled this usually quiet community.
``Dan was a caring and dedicated individual,'' San Leandro Police Chief Joe Kitchen said of Neimi at a news conference held before the arrest Tuesday afternoon. ``When you close your eyes and think of your best friend in the seventh grade ... that's Dan Niemi. He was just a very quiet, all-around nice guy.
``This is a terrible, terrible day in the city,'' Kitchen added. Niemi, 42, a former computer network administrator who joined the department three years ago, was shot and killed in what police called ``an unprovoked attack'' while responding to a routine disturbance call just before 11 p.m. Monday.
Kitchen said Niemi had gone to the 14700 block of Doolittle Drive to investigate a report of loud noise and loitering involving a group of juveniles and was talking to a group of three people who live in the area when a white 1995 Ford Thunderbird pulled alongside the officer. Kitchen said one of the two people inside the Thurderbird got out of the car and began a ``casual conversation'' with Niemi, who was outside his patrol car and standing on the sidewalk.
For reasons yet unknown, Lt. Marc DeCoulode said, the man opened fire on Niemi, striking the officer several times at close range. ``There was no indication that it would turn into a violent assault,'' DeCoulode said. By Monday morning, police had identified Ramirez as the suspected gunman and a manhunt ensued the ended in Daly City.
Niemi, who was married and had a 6-year-old daughter and 13-year-old stepson, was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he was pronounced dead at 11:38 p.m.
``It appeared officer Niemi was the intended victim,'' DeCoulode said. ``It was an unprovoked attack.''
Kitchen said he met with Niemi's wife and parents at the hospital around 3 a.m. Tuesday and informed them of the officer's death. ``That was the most gut-wenching period of my career, of my life,'' Kitchen said. DeCoulode said the Thunderbird was found abandoned a short distance away from the shooting scene on Doolittle Drive at Belvedere Avenue, but the suspect was nowhere to be found.
Residents who were in the area initially fled after hearing the crackle of gunfire, but DeCoulode said they returned and identified
A FEW THINGS
IF YOU KILL A COP, THE BEST TO PLACE TO HIDE IS NOT LESS THAN A BLOCK FROM A POLICE STATION....
MY POTNA STAY ACROSS THE STREET FROM WHERE THIS HAPPENED, THEY HAD CHOPPERS AND SWAT OUR IN FULL FORCE...SNIPERS WERE ON HIS ROOF AND NO ONE COULD LEAVE OR ENTER THE BLOCK...WE SITTIN THERE, THEY GETTIN HIGH WHEN HE SAYS..."BLOOD THERES A SWAT TEAM COMIN IN MY BUILDING OH SHIT"
TALK ABOUT SHITTIN YA PANTS WHEN A COP WITH A SNIPER RIFLE SAYS HE NEEDS TO USE THE WINDOW TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE ROOF...I RAN OUT THE BACK WAY THROUGH THE FIRE ESCAPE AND GOT OUT THROUGH THE GARAGE BEFORE THE COP CAME IN BUT I HEARD THEM COMIN UP AND IN HIS HOUSE...HE SAYS THEY WASNT EVEN TRIPPIN OFF THE WEED SMELL...THERE WAS A FULL SWAT TEAM OUTSIDE...THE FEDS...UNDERCOVERS...DAMN NEAR THE ENTIRE DCPD AND BROADMOOR PD...SWAT HAD AR-15'S AND THE TAPED OFF THE BLOCK...AFTER ALL THE DRAMA I MANAGED TO GET THESE PICS WIT MY CAMERA PHONE
