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Jose Angel Castillo

Age : 43

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 07/13/2026

Location : 4000 block of International Boulevard near 40th Avenue

City : Oakland

County : Alameda

State : California

Agency : Oakland Police Department; California Highway Patrol

Officer(s) :Not disclosed

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police after CHP contact at homeless encampment

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 07/13/2026, 43-year-old Jose Angel Castillo was shot and killed by two Oakland Police Department officers in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood after an encounter that began when California Highway Patrol officers contacted him near an unhoused encampment. Oakland police released body-camera and surveillance footage of the fatal encounter in August.
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California Highway Patrol officers initially encountered Castillo near an encampment along International Boulevard. Castillo was carrying two long homemade spear-like weapons consisting of poles with knives or blades attached to their ends. CHP requested assistance from Oakland police.
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Video released by Oakland police shows a CHP officer ordering Castillo to put the weapons down and telling him that he was being detained. Castillo did not drop the poles and instead walked away from the CHP officers toward International Boulevard.
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Oakland officers subsequently located Castillo near East 12th Street and 41st Avenue. The body-camera footage shows officers repeatedly ordering him to put down the weapons while Castillo continued walking away. Castillo repeatedly told officers to leave him alone and said that he was leaving.
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Officers continued following Castillo as he moved through the neighborhood carrying both homemade weapons. Additional officers arrived, including plainclothes personnel. Video shows nearby civilians, including children, moving away or taking cover as the police encounter progressed toward a shopping-center parking lot.
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Castillo eventually entered the parking lot near International Boulevard and 40th Avenue. Officers continued giving him commands to put down the weapons. The released footage shows Castillo still holding the two bladed poles while officers maintained distance from him.
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At least two Oakland officers then deployed Tasers at Castillo. The electrical discharge briefly affected him, but it did not end the encounter. Castillo removed a backpack and remained in possession of the homemade weapons.
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The released video shows Castillo subsequently swinging or raising one of the bladed poles toward officers and moving in their direction. Two Oakland police officers then fired their handguns at him from an estimated distance of approximately 15 to 20 feet.
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Castillo was struck by the officers' gunfire and fell in the parking lot. Officers initially maintained their positions before approaching him, placing him in handcuffs and beginning emergency medical treatment. Castillo died at the scene.
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The body-camera and surveillance recordings provide direct visual evidence of substantial portions of the encounter, including Castillo carrying the homemade spears, walking away from police while officers repeatedly ordered him to drop them, the attempted Taser deployments and his movement with one of the weapons immediately before officers opened fire.
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The released footage also documents that the encounter was prolonged rather than an immediate confrontation. Castillo moved through several locations while officers followed him and repeatedly ordered him to surrender the weapons before the encounter culminated in the shopping-center parking lot.
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Civil-rights attorney Jim Chanin questioned whether officers had alternatives to deadly force, including whether police could have maintained greater distance and continued attempting to contain Castillo rather than moving toward a confrontation. The shooting has renewed questions about police responses to unhoused people and people experiencing apparent behavioral crises.
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The two Oakland officers who fired their weapons were placed on paid administrative leave following the shooting. Their identities had not been publicly released as of the August release of the body-camera footage.
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The fatal shooting is being investigated by the Oakland Police Department's Internal Affairs Division and the Alameda County District Attorney's Office. Oakland's Community Police Review Agency was also notified and is involved in civilian oversight of the incident.
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Oakland police released the body-camera and surveillance footage approximately one month after Castillo's death pursuant to California's requirements governing public disclosure of recordings of critical incidents involving police.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The involved officers have not been publicly identified.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.oaklandca.gov/News-Releases
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/oakland-police-critical-incident/4113105/
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/oakland-police-fatal-shooting-activists/4115236/
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/oakland-fatal-police-shooting-40th-avenue-international-boulevard/
https://www.ktvu.com/news/oakland-police-fatally-shoot-allegedly-armed-man-who-evaded-chp
https://www.kqed.org/news/12091598/after-third-opd-shooting-this-year-advocates-demand-body-cam-footage
https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/oakland-critics-call-for-transparancy-after-3rd-22350973.php
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/oakland-fatal-police-shooting-22344008.php
https://www.kqed.org/news/12085228/oakland-police-judge-clears-path-for-possible-end-to-federal-oversight