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Adam v. City of Fremont12/3/1998
back, causing her to fall to the floor. Johnette telephoned Gina and asked Gina to pick her up so she could stay at Gina's house. After the telephone call, Patrick grabbed Johnette's hand and led her to the door stating, "You can wait for Gina outside."
Gina and Robert arrived to pick up Johnette at approximately 10:45 p.m. As they started to drive away, Gina became concerned that Patrick might try to drive his van while intoxicated. She asked Robert to return to the house. Robert then tried to speak with Patrick. When he returned to the car, Robert told Johnette and Gina, "We can't leave. . . . I think he's got the gun because he had his hand behind his back when he answered the door."
After discussing the situation, Johnette, Gina, and Robert drove to the corner store and called Patrick on a pay phone. Patrick did not answer. They returned to the residence and walked through the house, calling Patrick's name. Gina saw broken glass, objects on the floor, a shelf broken off the wall, and overturned furniture. Eventually, Johnette found Patrick sitting on a clothes hamper in the dark master bedroom closet. Gina entered the bedroom and asked Patrick, "What's the matter?" and "What's wrong?" Patrick replied, "Just go away. Just leave me alone." When Gina continued to initiate conversation, Patrick discharged a firearm. Gina and Johnette heard the gunshot, but could not see what direction the gun was pointed in when it was fired.
Gina, Johnette, and Robert ran out of the house. Gina testified she did not believe Patrick had fired the gun at her, but was concerned that he might have shot himself. Johnette testified that her first reaction was that Patrick had shot himself. She pulled Gina out of the house because she "didn't want Gina to see that, . . ."
Gina went to a neighbor's house and dialed 911 for assistance. At her mother's insistence, however, Gina hung up before reporting the incident. After further Discussion, they decided to telephone the police from a corner store. On their way, they saw two police cars heading toward the Adams' residence. The police dispatcher had traced Gina's 911 call and sent Fremont Police Officers Kevin Moran and Gregory Pipp to the scene. Officer Pipp arrived at 11:01 p.m., and Officer Moran arrived approximately five minutes later.
Johnette testified that she approached Officer Moran and told him her husband had been drinking, he was distraught, he had fired a shot in the house, and he might have wounded himself. Several other officers arrived to assist at the scene. The dispatcher telephoned the residence several times, but no one answered.
At approximately 11:14 p.m., Sergeant Steven Osawa responded to a radio dispatch describing "a possible suicide with the use of a handgun or attempted suicide with a handgun." When he arrived at the Adams' residence, he assumed the position of "supervisor in charge" for the duration of the evening. Sergeant Osawa had extensive experience and training in the "Special Services Unit," or "SWAT." He had attended basic hostage negotiations school three to four years earlier, but did not consider himself a specialist in the field of negotiations.
Officers Moran and Pipp relayed the information provided by the family to Sergeant Osawa. Sergeant Osawa requested additional police units and the assistance of a trained negotiator, Officer Sheila Tajima-Shadle. Paramedics and an ambulance were stationed in locations approximately 150 yards away from the residence.
Approximately 15 minutes after Sergeant Osawa's arrival, he decided the police should enter the house for three reasons: (1) Patrick might be wounded and in need of medical care; (2) if Patric
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