The San Diego police officer who shot and wounded a man allegedly armed with an axe in Pacific Beach was identified Wednesday.
Officer Dominic Bloemendaal, a seven-year department veteran assigned to the Northern Division patrol unit, shot 53-year-old William John Hanley, who had allegedly been brandishing a weapon inside the Pacific Beach library, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting under a countywide policy that prevents agencies from investigating their own shootings.
San Diego police responded to the library on Cass Avenue regarding reports of a man causing a disturbance in the library and vandalizing property.
Officers located Hanley on nearby Dawes Street, where he was allegedly holding an object that resembled an axe. Officers ordered Hanley to drop the object, but he did not comply, sheriff’s investigators said.
Bloemendaal fired his weapon multiple times, wounding him. He is expected to survive, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Hanley was hospitalized and on Tuesday was booked into Central Jail on numerous charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and felony vandalism.
The incident is the sixth San Diego police shooting in 2025 and the first one that was not fatal.
