Fair Oaks shooting suspect detained after 7-hour-plus standoff, Sacramento deputies say

A man was taken into custody Friday afternoon after a standoff with authorities that prompted the evacuation of an apartment complex in Fair Oaks, as well as return fire from Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office deputies during the 7½-hour ordeal.

It ended around 5:30 p.m. when the 36-year-old man, identified as Eric Oneal Smith Jr., was flushed out of a unit in the Hazel Ranch apartment complex by tear gas and detained, said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Amar Gandhi.

Radio dispatches monitored by The Sacramento Bee revealed the man, who may have been suffering from a mental health crisis, laid down on the ground as deputies rushed in to end the incident.

“The only way out of this is praying,” a dispatcher said Smith told a woman over the phone. At one point, crews from PG&E were called in to close gas lines into the complex after Smith told deputies he sought to use natural gas fumes to die, according to the radio dispatches.

Gandhi could not confirm the circumstances of the man’s state of mind or a motive behind the brazen, random shootings but said deputies were not injured in the gunfight, nor were residents of the complex.

He didn’t know if Smith lived inside the unit, but said he was alone throughout the ordeal.

Smith was booked into Sacramento County Main Jail late Friday night and is expected to be arraigned Tuesday on at least four felony charges. He’s being held without bail.

Deputies, suspect exchanged gunfire

The standoff began when gunfire erupted before 10:30 a.m. at the 208-unit complex on the 8800 block of Winding Way near Hazel Avenue. Gandhi said Smith began firing shots from the unit through a window.

Deputies had responded after another resident of the complex had called for someone who had fired weapons into their home, leaving a bullet hole through a window. Gandhi said there were multiple calls reporting shots fired, including from the suspect himself.

Within minutes, deputies who had arrived exchanged gunfire with the man. According to Gandhi, Smith had fired on deputies and deputies had returned fire. The man later fired upon SWAT deputies who had been called in to negotiate a peaceful surrender, Gandhi said.

Smith was taken to a hospital with “relatively minor injuries” from a gunshot wound to his arm, Gandhi said.

Negotiators had been talking with Smith by phone from the start, Gandhi said. As they worked to coax the man out, he sang songs and frequently hung up the phone, according to radio traffic, only to call deputies back.

Smith had indicated he wanted to be killed by law enforcement, according to witnesses outside the complex and in the dispatch audio.

It appears that he “was setting them up for an ambush,” Gandhi said in a briefing with reporters after the surrender.

Evacuated resident: ‘I’m still in shock’

While out of harm’s way, residents stood by waiting for normalcy as the standoff stretched into the evening.

“I’m still in shock,” said Devon Thomas, who was in the area as the standoff unfolded. “I hear active gunfire, and I’m just hoping that everyone’s OK. I hope no officers are injured, nobody in the community is injured as well.”

In addition to allegedly firing on authorities twice, the Sheriff’s Office said Smith shot down a drone. Gandhi said he also destroyed two other unmanned aerial vehicles used by deputies to monitor the standoff and Smith’s condition.

Most residents in the 6-acre complex at the time were evacuated while others who did not want to leave were asked to shelter in place. Winding Way as well as a parking lot at the next-door shopping center was shut down.

Within an hour of the incident starting, Sheriff’s Office deputies had been seen wearing protective gear and holding onto the sides of a tactical vehicle as it moved into the blocked area. Several SWAT vehicles were deployed throughout the day, including the agency’s Rook vehicle, used by deputies in dangerous situations to get closer to suspects.

Two bullets penetrated an apartment directly across from the gunman’s location, according to radio dispatches. Earlier, as deputies evacuated parts of the complex, a deputy ushering three residents to safety asked for cover as they escaped. Another family had described being scared and hiding in a closet, dispatchers told deputies.

Officer-involved shooting to be reviewed

Kevin Banks, who was evacuated with his neighbors, said he moved into the Hazel Ranch complex three months ago to live with his mother. He said his mother asked him to move to Fair Oaks because she said it was safer than where he lived in Berkeley.

“This is my welcome to the neighborhood right here,” Banks said, standing in a safe area at the Hazel Ridge Plaza Shopping Center. “It’s so out of the blue.”

Gandhi said such violence in the eastern Fair Oaks residential neighborhood, a few blocks west of Lake Natoma, was unusual.

“It’s a very quiet area,” Gandhi said.

According to jail records, Smith faces four felony charges, including attempted murder and assault with a firearm on an officer. Jail records showed Smith was also alleged as a felon in possession of a weapon.

“I am hoping he’s locked up for a while,” Gandhi said.

The Sheriff’s Office’s professional standards division will investigate the shooting involving deputies, which is standard practice. The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office will conduct its own review of the shooting. The Sheriff’s Office is expected to later release a community briefing video that will include body camera video and other information, in compliance with state law.

The Bee’s Renée C. Byer contributed to this story.