TRAGIC

CA Police Officer Tackles Man to the Ground, Fatally Shoots Him

Mark Matthew Bender Jr. reportedly reached for something in his pocket before the office shot him multiple times.

After police received calls Thursday evening regarding a man who was jumping on vehicles in the parking lot of a liquor store, an officer got into a physical tussle that ended in a fatal shooting. Mark Matthew Bender, Jr., 35, reportedly refused a police officer’s instructions and tried to enter the liquor store, prompting the officer to tackle Bender to the ground. Bender reportedly reached for something in his pocket during the tussle, then the officer pulled out his weapon and shot at him multiple times at close range. “When the officer saw that the suspect had a weapon, he defended himself with a firearm,” San Bernardino Police Department Sgt. John Echevarria said. An investigation is underway.