Overview
- Officers encountered 43-year-old Jose Angel Castillo carrying homemade spear-like bladed weapons in East Oakland, and the encounter on July 13, 2026 ended when two officers fired and Castillo died at the scene.
- Oakland police on August 13 released a compiled video of CHP and OPD body cameras plus surveillance footage that shows repeated orders to drop the weapons, taser deployments, a movement or swing with a spear, and the moments officers opened fire.
- The two officers who fired were placed on paid administrative leave and the shooting is under separate criminal and internal investigations by OPD and an independent probe by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, with the city's Community Police Review Agency notified.
- Civil-rights lawyers and community groups have questioned whether lethal force was necessary, and officers on the video refer to multiple recovered items described as knives, a hammer, and bladed implements.
- The encounter began after CHP contacted a man at a nearby homeless encampment, and the case highlights tensions over how police respond to people living on the street and the role transparency and oversight play in shaping public confidence and policy review.