SANTA CLARA COUNTY (BCN) — A man fatally shot by a Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputy Monday in Saratoga has been identified as 86-year-old Eugene Craig, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
The deputy who shot Craig, Sgt. Doug Ulrich, has served with the Sheriff’s Office for 14 years, sheriff’s Lt. James Jensen said.
On Monday around 7:50 p.m., deputies responded to a welfare check at a residence on Titus Avenue across the street from Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, Jensen said.
Arriving deputies attempted to contact a person, later identified as Craig, inside the home for about 50 minutes before they went around and entered the building through a back door, Jensen said.
Deputies found Craig, who was holding a loaded handgun, and told him to drop the weapon, according to Jensen.
The 86-year-old man allegedly brandished the firearm at deputies and Ulrich shot him, Jensen said.
Craig was transported to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, according to Jensen.
Ulrich has been placed on paid administrative leave as an investigation continues into the shooting, Jensen said.