Sept. 19--SAN RAMON -- A 42-year-old man being evicted by Contra Costa County sheriff's deputies shot through the front door of a foreclosed home in an upscale gated community just outside San Ramon on Wednesday, hitting the property manager in the leg, before surrendering after a standoff, authorities said.
The incident began shortly before 2 p.m. at 3497 Ashbourne Circle in the Norris Canyon Estates development west of San Ramon, authorities said.
Sheriff's deputies, the property manager and a locksmith arrived at the home to evict the resident, but no one responded when the deputies repeatedly knocked on the door, said Jimmy Lee, a spokesman for the Contra Costa County sheriff's office, which patrols the unincorporated area.
As the locksmith began drilling out the lock, Lee said, someone fired shots through the closed front door of the five-bedroom, $1.6 million home, hitting the property manager in the leg.
The victim, whose name was not released, was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
Sheriff's officials had earlier reported that a deputy had fired shots during the incident, and that the locksmith had been shot, but that was not the case, Lee said.
The suspect surrendered several hours later after a sheriff's SWAT team forced him out of his home with tear gas, Lee said.
Shortly after the incident began, Mohssen Yassini, 56, who lives on Ashbourne Circle, said he received an e-mail from staff at the front gate advising residents to stay put because "the assailant is still at large." He said he could see ambulances and police cars on the street.
"We didn't hear the shooting. We don't know who lives there. But it is right down the street from us," Yassini said. "We are shocked. This has never happened, and we have lived here for seven years."
The incident bears similarities to an incident last year in Modesto, in which a Stanislaus County sheriff's deputy and a locksmith were shot dead during an eviction attempt.
Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: henryklee
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