After both the Police Department and the County Sheriff's Office reported shootings in San Mateo over the weekend, another one was reported on Wednesday, a situation that is alarming the community.
On the night of Wednesday, January 19, a person was shot in a parking lot at Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo.
According to the Police Department, the shooting was reported around 5:30 p.m., when officers arrived at the scene and found a victim lying in the parking lot.
After the incident occurred in the parking lot and not inside the mall, authorities said there was no threat to the public, so only the area was closed, and reopened a couple of hours later.
The San Mateo Police Department said the victim was in stable condition and was taken to a nearby hospital.
Hours earlier, at 12:13 p.m., the same authority received several calls reporting a man walking agitatedly along W. Hillsdale Blvd., near Clearview Way.
Callers said the man was throwing objects at people passing by, was carrying a hammer and was fighting with a person, and threw lighter fluid at a bystander and their dog, trying to set them on fire.
During the reported assault, the victim dropped his cell phone while attempting to take the hammer away from the suspect. The suspect took the phone and fled the area.
According to information released by the authority, numerous officers were sent to the area and located the victim who smelled of lighter fluid, but was not injured.
The suspect was reported to have fled into the wooded area between W. Hillsdale Blvd., Clearview Way, Bayridge Way and College of San Mateo.
From previous calls for service, officers were aware that a homeless subject was living behind the 1600 block of Bayridge Way. They responded to this location and located the subject, who matched the given description of the suspect.
Because the subject was still agitated, a contact team was formed to include Crisis Negotiation Training (CNT) officers and the new Mental Health Clinician.
A CNT officer negotiated with the subject for approximately 45 minutes, convincing him to surrender.
The suspect, identified as Matthew Post, was ultimately arrested and booked into the San Mateo County Jail for assault with a deadly weapon (hammer); assault with a caustic chemical (lighter fluid) and destruction of evidence (the stolen cell phone).
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