Crime & Safety
Gunman in Eviction Shooting Booked in Martinez Jail on $2.5M Bail
The man is suspected of shooting a property manager during an eviction attempt in San Ramon on Wednesday.
By Bay City News Service
A 42-year-old man who shot and injured a property manager during an eviction attempt at the man's home in unincorporated San Ramon on Wednesday is behind bars, a sheriff's office spokesman said Thursday.
The alleged gunman, identified as Mike Ghoneim, was arrested and booked into Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez early Thursday morning on suspicion of five counts of attempted murder, sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said.
He is being held on $2.5 million bail. Around 2 p.m. Wednesday, a property manager accompanied two sheriff's deputies who were attempting to serve an eviction notice at the home, located at 3497 Ashbourne Circle in the gated community of Norris Canyon Estates, authorities said.
The roughly $1.6 million home is in foreclosure, according to sheriff's officials and the real estate website Zillow. Ghoneim, who was inside, allegedly shot through the home's front door, striking the property manager in the leg, Lee said.
The man was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley to be treated for a gunshot wound and was listed in stable condition Thursday, Lee said. The sheriff's office is not disclosing the property manager's age or city of residence.
The shooting prompted a nearly four-hour-long standoff involving members of the sheriff's SWAT team and hostage negotiators. Ghoneim finally surrendered after the SWAT team lobbed tear gas into the house, according to the sheriff's office.
No one else was inside the house during the incident and Lee said he does not know if anyone else lives there.
The sheriff's spokesman said residents of roughly 40 to 50 homes in the immediate area were told to shelter-in-place and to lock all doors and windows a short time before 3 p.m.
The order was lifted around 6 p.m. when residents who weren't home at the time of the shooting began to trickle back into the area.
Authorities initially said that the incident was an officer-involved shooting but Lee later corrected those reports.
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