Pleasanton man arrested in fatal shooting, possible explosive devices found

Pleasanton - A Pleasanton man was arrested after a deadly shooting inside a home in a typically quiet Pleasanton neighborhood, authorities said.

Pleasanton police said they responded to reports of gunfire shortly after 9:30 a.m. Friday at a home on the 4600 block of Helpert Court. Officers arrived to find a man suffering from a gunshot wound. Despite life-saving efforts, the victim was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The suspect, 28-year-old Lucas Chan, was arrested at the scene. He faces a number of charges, including murder. Police said suspicious devices, including possible improvised explosive devices, were found in the home. The Alameda County Sheriff's Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team was called to the scene, and technicians safely removed them from the home.

Neighbors surprised by arrest, recall suspect's troubled past

Several neighbors said they were stunned by the heavy police response.

"They completely blocked everything off so we couldn’t leave, nobody could come in," said neighbor Giancarlo Curoso-Suarez, who witnessed the arrest. "We just saw all the sirens and stuff and then when I started watching they actually telling him ‘put your hands above your head, walk out of the house slowly, lay on the ground and then they arrested him, he was shirtless."

Curoso-Suarez said he had known Chan since childhood.

"I was not expecting that at all actually from what I remember when we were kids, he was a really nice guy," he said. "We were kind of all friends, all the kids in the neighborhood were friends. I mean I remember going to the rope swings and stuff like that as a kid. I kind of just remember him working on his cars all the time, you can see the cars out front, that was kind of his thing."

Another neighbor, Alex Jimenez, said he went to school with Chan and recalled a different side of him.

"He was my classmate he was always into some kind of trouble. I mean he was always kind of into BB guns and stuff like that during middle school and high school," Jimenez said. 

Jimenez also recalled an unsettling moment from his youth.

"When I was a little bit younger he tried to get me to build something like that when I was in the fifth grade, but he was never able to do something like that," he said, referring to an explosive device. 

Neighbors said Chan lived at the home with his parents.

"They would walk their dogs everyday, nothing eventful there," Curoso-Suarez said. "The parents were really friendly, there was the mom, I never really talked to her, but the dad, he would work on the cars with Lucas."

On Saturday, crime scene cleaners were seen entering the home. Police said there is no significant history of prior calls to the address.

The victim's identity has not been released. Chan is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail. His arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing. Anyone with information about the case can contact investigators at (925)-931-5100.