SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) - A California police officer shot and killed a man who pulled a gun from his pocket during a struggle, authorities said Friday.
Mark Matthew Bender Jr., 35, was shot late Thursday outside a convenience store, San Bernardino police said in a statement.
The officer responded to a call about a man with a gun jumping on cars in the parking lot, police said.
He refused to follow the officer’s commands and tried to enter the store that had several employees and customers inside. The officer got between Bender and the entrance, and an altercation occurred, police said.
A bystander’s video that the Police Department posted on its Facebook page showed the officer take down the man and struggle with him on the ground. He appeared to pull something from the pocket of his shorts and began to stand up, dislodging the officer from his back.
The officer pulled his gun as he jumped back and fired four times.
“The suspect was able to physically overpower the officer and retrieved a weapon from his pocket, and was turning to face the officer,” the police statement said. That’s when the officer fired.
Officers gave medical aid, and Bender was taken to a hospital, where he died.
A loaded and functional 9mm semiautomatic handgun with no record of ownership was found at the scene, police said.
The department statement said Bender had a “violent criminal past going back 17 years.”
That included several arrests for domestic violence, grand theft, possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics for sale, possession of a firearm, being felon in possession of a firearm and receiving stolen property.
The department said he had additional arrests for false imprisonment, criminal threats, attempted murder and probation and parole violations.
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