OAKLAND, Calif.
A 22-year-old man died Thursday after being shot on an Oakland train station platform by a transit agency police officer responding to reports of fighting on an arriving train, officials said.
The Bay Area Rapid Transit officer's gun went off while police were trying to restrain 22-year-old Oscar Grant at BART's Fruitvale station around 2:15 a.m. Thursday, agency spokesman Jim Allison said.
Grant was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead later Thursday morning, Allison said.
Authorities said they were still investigating whether the gun was fired on purpose or accidentally.
"It's clear that it was a volatile situation with young men who were arguing and in fact had continued to argue even in the presence of multiple police officers," Allison said.
Five officers had gathered on the platform as the train arrived from San Francisco following reports that two groups of men were fighting on the train near the West Oakland station two stops earlier, officials said.
The men continued to yell at each other after the train stopped, and police were in the process of separating the men when the bullet struck Grant, Allison said.
No one involved in the alleged fighting was arrested following the incident. Two men were detained for questioning but released.
Officials have not publicly identified the officer, who has served on the force for just under two years.
The officer was placed on administrative leave as authorities investigate whether proper police procedures had been followed and whether the shooting was a crime, Allison said.
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