DALY CITY — A lieutenant and three officers have been named as the four police officers involved in the shooting of Roger Allen during an April 7 encounter that reportedly started with an officer attempting to assist a driver with a flat tire but ended with Allen’s death.
The officers were identified Thursday as Lt. Michael Brennan and officers Rosa Brenes, Nicholas McCarthy and Cameron Newton. Their names had been withheld until now with police citing an ongoing investigation headed by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, but intense public backlash and outcry for transparency from community leaders and residents — who have rallied, marched and assembled numerous times since the shooting — led to the release.
Still, in a brief update issued Thursday, police have not identified which officer fired twice at 44-year-old Allen on the afternoon of April 7 on Niantic Avenue, with one of the bullets hitting Allen in the chest. A separate officer reported seeing a handgun in Allen’s lap as he sat in the passenger seat of a pickup truck, and police and the DA’s office have said an ensuing struggle over the weapon — which they said turned out to be a BB gun styled to look like a Glock handgun — ended with the San Francisco resident being shot.
Corroborating evidence for the public has been sparse so far, owing in large part to the fact that Daly City police remains as one of few Bay Area law-enforcement agencies that have not outfitted officers with body-worn cameras. A deployment of the cameras has been approved by the city but not yet instituted.
According to police, an officer approached a truck that Allen was riding in as it was parked with a visibly damaged tire. The officer was reportedly talking to the driver about getting a tow truck, and eventually three more officers arrived. The driver of the truck, a man, and a woman riding in the back seat were not injured and were released after being interviewed by police.
But the limited release of information about the shooting, and the absence of officer footage, has stoked anger and skepticism among community members and leaders. A city council meeting earlier this week drew more than a hundred people looking to voice their frustrations, criticizing both police and city leaders for their approach to disclosing details about the shooting.
Talika Fletcher, Allen’s sister, gave voice to that frustration at the Monday council meeting.
“I know who killed my brother,” Fletcher said. “You all took the only person I had in my life left. My family is suffering. I’ve got to watch my nephew cry every day.”
Fletcher also said she has experienced police harassment since her brother died, but indicated that she would not let up on finding out the truth behind her brother’s death.
“I’ve been crying and I’ve been scared for my whole life,” she said. “Just know I’m coming.”
Check back later for updates to this story.
