Feds: Deadly shooting during Oakland protest 'terrorism'

OAKLAND, CA - MAY 30: Oakland Police officers remove crime tape near the scene of a shooting at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, May 30, 2020. People protested last night all over the country because of George Floyd’s death by a Minneapolis police officer. Many downtown businesses were damaged and looted. Two federal officers were shot at the corner of Jefferson St. and 12th St. outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building. One of the Federal Protective Officers died while the other sustained injuries, according to a statement from FBI San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CA - MAY 30: A woman cleans broken glass outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, May 30, 2020. People protested last night all over the country because of George Floyd’s death by a Minneapolis police officer. Many downtown businesses were damaged and looted. Two federal officers were shot at the corner of Jefferson St. and 12th St. outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building. One of the Federal Protective Officers died while the other sustained injuries, according to a statement from FBI San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CA - MAY 30: Security guards talk to a pedestrian outside a security booth damaged by gunshots at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, May 30, 2020. People protested last night all over the country because of George Floyd’s death by a Minneapolis police officer. Many downtown businesses were damaged and looted. Two federal officers were shot at the corner of Jefferson St. and 12th St. outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building. One of the Federal Protective Officers died while the other sustained injuries, according to a statement from FBI San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CA - MAY 30: FBI agents return to their vehicle parked outside a security booth damaged by gunshots at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, May 30, 2020. People protested last night all over the country because of George Floyd’s death by a Minneapolis police officer. Many downtown businesses were damaged and looted. Two federal officers were shot at the corner of Jefferson St. and 12th St. outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building. One of the Federal Protective Officers died while the other sustained injuries, according to a statement from FBI San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CA - MAY 30: A U.S. Marshall walks outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, May 30, 2020. People protested last night all over the country because of George Floyd’s death by a Minneapolis police officer. Many downtown businesses were damaged and looted. Two federal officers were shot at the corner of Jefferson St. and 12th St. outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building. One of the Federal Protective Officers died while the other sustained injuries, according to a statement from FBI San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CA - MAY 30: A janitorial employee cleans the outside of a security booth hit by gunshots at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, May 30, 2020. People protested last night all over the country because of George Floyd’s death by a Minneapolis police officer. Many downtown businesses were damaged and looted. Two federal officers were shot at the corner of Jefferson St. and 12th St. outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building. One of the Federal Protective Officers died while the other sustained injuries, according to a statement from FBI San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CA - MAY 30: An armored vehicle is parked at the corner of Jefferson St. and 12th St. by a security booth damaged by gunshots at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, May 30, 2020. People protested last night all over the country because of George Floyd’s death by a Minneapolis police officer. Many downtown businesses were damaged and looted. Two federal officers were shot at the corner of Jefferson St. and 12th St. outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building. One of the Federal Protective Officers died while the other sustained injuries, according to a statement from FBI San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND, CA - MAY 30: A janitorial employee wipes the mops clean the outside of a security booth hit by gunshots at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, May 30, 2020. People protested last night all over the country because of George Floyd’s death by a Minneapolis police officer. Many downtown businesses were damaged and looted. Two federal officers were shot at the corner of Jefferson St. and 12th St. outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building. One of the Federal Protective Officers died while the other sustained injuries, according to a statement from FBI San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

By Nico Savidge | Bay Area News Group and David DeBolt | ddebolt@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group

PUBLISHED: May 30, 2020 at 1:45 p.m. | UPDATED: June 1, 2020 at 9:55 a.m.

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A shooting in which one federal security officer was killed and another critically wounded a few blocks away from a raucous anti-police protest Friday night in downtown Oakland was an act of domestic terrorism, according to Department of Homeland Security officials.

The officials said at a press conference Saturday that the two federal protective officers were targeted by an “assassin” outside the Ronald V. Deullums Federal Building.

“When someone targets a police officer or a police station with an intention to do harm and intimidate, that is an act of domestic terrorism,” said Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

On Saturday evening, ABC7 News, this news organization’s media partner, reported that the slain officer was 53-year-old Patrick Underwood, of Pinole. It cited one of the sources as his sister, Angela Underwood Jacobs.

While DHS officials characterized the killing as domestic terrorism, an official close to the investigation said it is too early to identify the motive and a former Oakland police chief suggested the characterization is a “stretch” without more information.

The shooting happened at the intersection of 12th and Jefferson streets outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building around 9:45 p.m. Friday, near a guard shelter at the entrance to the building’s parking garage.

Authorities say someone fired multiple shots from a white van at the two contract security officers for the Federal Protective Service of the Department of Homeland Security.

No arrests have been made in the shooting, nor have authorities released a description of any suspects. The FBI on Saturday asked the public to provide any footage of the suspects or getaway van.

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said the federal protection security officers were there to guard federal buildings during the downtown demonstration.

“As of late we have witnessed an outright assault on our law enforcement community,” Wolf said at a press conference Saturday. “Last night in Oakland, California, an assassin cowardly shot two federal protective service contractors as they stood watch over a protest.”

Wolf said the surviving officer is in critical condition. Neither of the security officers has been publicly identified. Both were working for security companies contracted by the government to protect the federal properties.

“Any loss in the DHS family impacts all of us and I want the loved ones of these brave officers to know you have the support of the department behind you,” Wolf said.

Without a motive established, former Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said it would be a “stretch” to call the killing a domestic terrorism act.

“Saying that inflames the story and probably legitimizes (President Donald) Trump’s ramped up reason for calling in the National Guard, which would turn Oakland into a police state,” said Jordan, who led the Oakland police force during the Occupy Oakland protests.

In a statement released Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, “No one should rush to conflate this heinous act with the protests last night. A federal investigation is underway, and we should let that process play out.”

Oakland police, who are assisting the FBI in the investigation, tweeted a statement Friday night saying the shooting appeared to be unrelated to the protest over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The department’s public information office later deleted the tweet. Oakland police now are not ruling out the possibility of a connection.

“Our intentions were to update it,” Oakland police spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson said. “After more clarification, it was unknown at the time if it was related or not.”

An estimated 8,000 people attended the Oakland demonstration Friday, which turned chaotic and violent as the night went on. Police fried tear gas and demonstrators smashed windows, looted stores, stole a vehicle from a car dealership and vandalized more than 70 businesses in all. Around the time of the shooting, the protest had moved to 14th and Broadway, where vandals broke into Chase Bank and looted Walgreens, about three blocks from the guard booth.

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