Man critical after West Oakland BART Station shooting

Trains did not stop at the West Oakland BART Station for several hours Tuesday night after police said a man shot himself in the stomach during a confrontation with officers. Trains did not stop at the West Oakland BART Station for several hours Tuesday night after police said a man shot himself in the stomach during a confrontation with officers. Photo: CBS San Francisco Photo: CBS San Francisco Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Man critical after West Oakland BART Station shooting 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

A man who authorities say shot himself at the West Oakland BART Station on Tuesday night after transit police confronted him about smoking a cigarette on the platform remained in critical condition Wednesday.

The shooting happened at 8 p.m. Tuesday and shut down the West Oakland BART Station for hours. The station was reopened late Tuesday.

When told by transit police to put out his cigarette, the man, Corey Powell, 28, of Union City gave the officers false names and threatened to jump in front of an oncoming train, authorities said.

Powell then “resisted violently” and reached for his waistband, prompting police to stun him with a Taser, authorities said. The man then shot himself in the abdomen as he retrieved a gun in his waistband, police said.

Powell was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland, where he was in critical condition but was expected to survive.

He was on probation for burglary and armed robbery, police said.

“Our information is that he shot himself while grabbing the weapon out of his waistband,” BART Deputy Police Chief Jeff Jennings told reporters. “We don’t know what his motive was, but that’s what we have right now, is that he shot himself. I can’t make the assumption that it was accidental or purposeful. The person was acting erratically and he was resisting violently. So I can’t make that leap of why he pulled the trigger on himself.”

The two officers involved were wearing body cameras that captured the incident, and footage along with video provided by witnesses confirm that he shot himself, officials said.

On one video, an officer is heard saying, “He’s going for his waistband. I’m going to Tase” shortly before the gun goes off, said BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost. The Taser is deployed immediately after the gunshot, she said.

The two officers’ guns were checked, and neither weapon was fired, authorities said.

The incident is under investigation by police, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and the BART independent police auditor.

Kale Williams and Henry K. Lee are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: kwilliams@sfchronicle.com, hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfkale, @henryklee