Police Brutality / Individual record
Raheim Brown
Raheim Brown, 20, was fatally shot by Oakland Unified School District police outside a school event in January 2011, and one responding officer later contradicted another officer's account.
- Record ID
- PB-045
- Date of death
- January 22, 2011
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Oakland, CA
- Category
- Police shooting
What happened
On January 22, 2011, Raheim Brown was in the passenger seat of a parked car near the Oakland hills' Skyline High School winter dance. School district police approached. The officers initially alleged that Brown threatened or stabbed Sergeant Jonathan Bellusa with a screwdriver and that Sergeant Barhin Bhatt fired to protect him. Bellusa later reportedly contradicted Bhatt about whether Brown still presented a threat when subsequent shots were fired. Brown's parents, child and other relatives pursued civil suits, demanding answers about the sequence of shots and the need for force in the encounter.
Investigation & findings
The Oakland Unified School District agreed to pay approximately $995,000 to settle two civil lawsuits. The reports document conflicting officer testimony, not a criminal court finding that every shot was unlawful. The family's allegations and the official account should remain distinguished.
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- Historical source-derived record, pre-2015
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Published historical compilation of Black people killed in police custody (1999–2014)SAGE journal / cited NAACP LDF memorial listing · 2016 · Secondary scholarly source