A man is shot and killed by Carmel police after reportedly refusing to relinquish a rifle and obey commands.

This story was updated at 4:53pm on Oct. 25 to include age and name.

A 27-year-old man wielding what appeared to be an AK-style rifle in Carmel on Friday morning, Oct. 25, was shot and killed by police after experiencing a mental health incident.

The Carmel Police Department received two calls around 8:30am, one from a neighbor and one from the suspect’s mother, reporting a man on Monte Verde Street and 8th Avenue with a rifle. The mother reported to the police that her son was experiencing a mental breakdown and threatening suicide by cop. She also warned that her son had a firearm, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Andres Rosas told reporters in a press briefing. 

Three weeks earlier, on Oct. 3 at 5:37pm, Carmel police logs show officers responding to a call that appears to concern the man at Monte Verde and 8th who they encountered again, fatally, on Oct. 25. 

“Subject reported to be having a mental health episode,” the police log entry reads. “Subject did not meet criteria and refused help with resources. Family member stated they had the situation under control.” 

The man's name is James Marshall.

Three officers were involved in the incident, including Chief Paul Tomasi. Tomasi did not fire a gun and so he remains on active duty. It is not clear whether one or two officers fired at the man. 

No officers were shot in the incident, sources briefed by the police tell the Weekly, but Rosas says one Carmel officer was transported to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect’s mother was also transported to the hospital for injuries, possibly unrelated to the incident, Rosas said. 

Marshall walked around on Monte Verde Street, past the Golden Bough Playhouse and down to Casanova Street before turning around and returning to Monte Verde, where police officers located him. 

Rosas says he failed to obey officers’ instructions and refused to disarm himself. 

Crisis negotiators from the Monterey Peninsula Special Response unit were requested and came to the scene to establish communication with Marshall, but were not able to engage him in conversation.

Officers first used non-lethal options (Rosas did not specify what types) to attempt to subdue the man, but eventually deployed firearms. Aid was administered at the scene and the man was transported to a hospital for treatment, where he died from his injuries.

On Friday morning, crews were working at PacRep’s Golden Bough Playhouse and Circle Theatre across the street from the home when the suspect began walking down the street wielding a rifle and wearing body armor. PacRep Executive Director Stephen Moorer says the man pointed it at workers, and told them that Jesus loves them. 

The IT director came into the theater from Monte Verde Street and told people inside that an armed man was out front. “I told everyone, ‘This is not a drill,’” Moorer says. “Come inside, lock the doors.” 

People came inside the theater to shelter, and looked on as the young man’s mother appeared to be talking to him in the street outside. Moorer saw him kick down road closed barriers that had been placed earlier in the morning.

Then the suspect walked down the driveway past the Golden Bough theater to the Circle Theatre entrance, facing Casanova Street, where more people were working outside. Moorer cleared everyone out from the back to gather up and they watched as the man appeared to pass them by, walking to Casanova Street. They thought he had left, when he suddenly turned around and walked back toward the theater, where the team was looking on in fear, phones out to record.

“He looks at us and says, ‘no filming,’” Moorer says.

Then the man continued back uphill to Monte Verde Street, and returned to his residence where crisis negotiators attempted to talk him down, out of sight of the team at PacRep. 

“Everybody is in shock,” Moorer says. “Small towns are not immune.”

Moorer believes the mother and son have lived at their home for years, but remain relatively quiet. 

Up the street, people sheltered in place at the Carmel Foundation, where one class for seniors was taking place; Tomasi arrived in person to alert them to the active shooter situation nearby. At 10:22am, they received word that it was safe to move about again. 

Throughout the morning and into the afternoon, Monte Verde Street was cordoned off as an active investigation scene, with the District Attorney’s Office leading the investigation, and other agencies on scene to assist. Responding agencies included Monterey Police, Marina Police and the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office. 

“I am exceptionally grateful to the Carmel Police Department and our partner agencies who responded to this crisis call,” City Administrator Chip Rerig says. 

Just blocks away from the investigation, downtown Carmel along Ocean Avenue was bustling as usual.

The incident has been turned over to the Monterey County District Attorney’s office for investigation, standard protocol for officer-involved shootings.