Crime & Safety

Suspect Eludes SWAT

The county's search for a suspect of a shooting in Vallejo led them to the Coastside.

Update 11:45 a.m.: 

San Mateo County Sheriff’s deputies approached the residence on Coronado and Isabella in El Granada at 11 a.m. The sirens on their marked vehicles were blaring to indicate to the suspect, 19-year-old Sammy Turner, that they had arrived and did not intend a surprise entrance.

Two officers walked through the front door with guns drawn and no announcement.

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Minutes later, they emerged with a young man in handcuffs.

Bystanders indicated that the young man was Sammy Turner, the sought-after suspect from the standoff Tuesday night. 

Find out what's happening in Half Moon Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

Update, Tuesday, 11/27 11:15 p.m.:

At 9:50 p.m. Tuesday, approximately 15-armed SWAT men — members of the San Mateo County SWAT team in conjunction with the Redwood City Police Department SWAT team — wearing helmets approached the El Granada apartment on the corner of Coronado and Isabella from Alameda Avenue where Sammy Turner, 19, was allegedly hiding out in after shooting his best friend in Vallejo on Monday.

For the next hour, the SWAT team surrounded the building, crouching behind fences and hiding along the sidewalk and bushes. The sound of glass shattering and banging on doors could be heard.

After repeated requests to the suspect to come out unarmed, the SWAT Team descended upon the apartment from the garage on Coronado Street and searched the entire building with flashlights, attempting to clear the interior of the apartment building.

The suspect, however, could not be found. Sheriff deputies on site speculate that Turner must have slipped out at some point during the day.

With no immediate threat to the area, according to San Mateo County Sheriff officials, they are planning to leave the scene within the next hour.

Four detectives are currently on scene, searching for the weapon that Turner allegedly used to shoot his friend Cody Hassler in the stomach on Monday.

Hassler is currently in the ICU at an area hospital. In a video attached to this article he sends Turner a message, saying he forgives him.

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Update, 11/27/12 8:55 p.m.:

San Mateo County Sheriff's deputies are waiting for the SWAT commander to make the call as to whether or not they will attempt to enter the apartment that suspect Sammy Turner, 19, is hiding out in.

Deputy Mark Melville says it could be within the hour. Their hope is, however, that Turner will come out and surrender on his own accord.

In the meantime, the 18-hour shift for many of the deputies is waning and by 10 p.m. a new shift of officers will be on duty. It's starting to drizzle and the coffee supplied by a neighbor on Isabella is running low.

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Update, 11/27/12 6:15 p.m.:

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s SWAT team is still surrounding an El Granada residence, trying to apprehend a potential suspect involved in a shooting Monday.  

Police car lights are shining everywhere, streets are taped off and an officer speaking over a bullhorn to the suspect hiding out in his apartment is all that can be seen and heard in the south end of El Granada this evening.

Concerned neighbors are also filling up the bordering streets, some who say they know the young man, holding up in an apartment on the 400 block of Coronado at Isabella and wanted for shooting a longtime friend in Vallejo yesterday.

“Sammy needs to know that his friends are out here, and we care about him, and that we would forgive him for what he’s done,” said El Granada resident John “Bud” Howard, 20, who’s known Sammy Turner, 19, since elementary school.

Howard says Turner shot his friend Cody Hassler in the stomach over an argument but would not elaborate as to what it was about.

According to Howard, Turner has hit some tough times since graduating Half Moon Bay High in 2011, some of it "emotional and drugs."

On Nov. 20, Turner's father reported him to police for stealing a television and computer from the home, said Howard.

At this time the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office is not releasing the name of the suspect. They were led to El Granada since that’s the most current driver’s license address for the suspect, said Deputy Rebecca Rosenblatt.

Patch will update the story as more details are available.

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The San Mateo County Sheriff’s SWAT team is still surrounding an El Granada residence as of this morning trying to apprehend a potential suspect involved in a shooting Monday.  

The Sheriff’s Office had first arrived at Isabella Avenue at approximately 8 a.m., reported the Half Moon Bay Review. A perimeter was set up with assistance from members of the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force and Sheriff’s Office Investigations.The street is blocked for two blocks east of Avenue Alhambra.

Sheriff’s deputies had a search warrant for the home, but do not know if the suspect is armed inside the apartment.

People were looking out of the window of the apartment at law enforcement around the house this morning, according to San Mateo County Sheriff's officials, but no one has since come out.

No one was killed in the Vallejo shooting Monday, officials told The Review, but could not provide any additional details.

The incident is ongoing and police are intent on taking the man into custody but are at standstill at this time after knocking on the door and using a bullhorn, asking him to surrender, according to San Mateo County Sheriff's officials.

Patch will update the story as more details are available. 

 


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