Sheriff releases names of deputies in Cupertino gunman shooting

by Susie Fowkes , October 7, 2011

After attempting to contact him, officials noticed that he had a handgun displayed “in a threatening manner” and the deputies began firing.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department has named the three deputies involved in Thursday morning’s shooting of Shareef Allman, the man suspected of going on a violent shooting spree that left three people dead Wednesday morning.

Deputies Fabian Desantiago, Christopher Hilt, and Lindsay Crist were confirmed as the deputies who fired at Allman in a Lorne Way neighborhood in Sunnyvale, according to Sheriff Laurie Smith. The three each have fewer than five years of experience with the sheriff’s department.

“They are exceptional, great deputies … who did a great job at the scene,” Smith said during a press conference Thursday morning.

Also on Thursday, the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office confirmed that the man shot was, in fact, Allman, a 49-year-old employee at the Lehigh Hanson quarry and cement plant in Cupertino where the first of the shootings occurred.

Following the initial shootings at the quarry during an early morning safety meeting, which left three dead and five wounded, Allman then allegedly shot another woman outside the Hewlett-Packard offices on Homestead Road in Sunnyvale during a botched carjacking attempt. The woman was shot in the arm and will survive her injuries.

The shootings kicked off a massive manhunt for Allman, which continued into the night on Wednesday and culminated with Allman’s death Thursday at about 7:30 a.m. Along with sheriff’s deputies, officers from multiple police agencies, as well as U.S. Marshals and an FBI SWAT team participated in the search for Allman.

According to Smith, one of the deputies spotted a man resembling Allman “crouching behind a car” in the driveway of a home at 934 Lorne Way in Sunnyvale.

After attempting to contact him, officials noticed that he had a handgun displayed “in a threatening manner” and the deputies began firing, Smith explained. It is unknown which deputy fired the shot that killed Allman.
Allman’s shooting will be investigated by the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, since it occurred in their jurisdiction, according to authorities.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office will be releasing a DVD of the surveillance video that was taken Wednesday morning, showing Allman walking with a rifle shortly after the shooting at Lehigh Hanson. Members of the media may contact sheriff’s Sgt. Jose Cordoza to obtain a copy.

Huffington Post, Shareef Allman, Cupertino shooting suspect, believed to be suicidal

Mercury News, How Cupertino homicide suspect Shareef Allman eluded huge manhunt for 22 hours

SF Gate, Shareef Allman: From God to guns

Sheriff releases names of deputies in Cupertino gunman shooting was last modified: January 10th, 2019 by admin

Categories: California, Santa Clara

About Author

Susie Fowkes

Susie Dryden Fowkes was born and raised in the Central Coast city of Santa Cruz and studied journalism at San Francisco State University. She has lived in the Silicon Valley for more than a decade, where she has covered Bay Area news for both radio and print media. She currently resides in San Jose with her traffic reporter husband and beagle-lab mix Kona.