Stanley Wong, 49, was shot by a San Mateo police officer shortly before 2 p.m. in a parking lot near the corner of B Street and Fifth Avenue. The officer was called to a nearby market on reports that Wong was harassing customers. At some point, Wong wielded a pocketknife at the officer, who called for backup and fired his Taser gun. The gun was ineffective and the officer attempted to retreat while calling for emergency cover. He eventually shot Wong “several” times and then called paramedics.

The shooting was the last in a string of encounters Wong had with police and mental health workers over the last few years. He was identified earlier this year as one of the city’s top 12 “core homeless” in downtown San Mateo that could benefit from a pilot program called the Homeless Outreach Team. The project partners police, nonprofit and county social service employees to identify homeless and get them the help they need to get off the streets. It is one of the first phases of the county’s ambitious plan to tackle homelessness.

It’s not clear how much help, if any, Wong received through the program. He was, however, visited by the San Mateo County Mental Assessment and Referral Team, said San Mateo police Lt. Mike Brunicardi.

The year-old program developed by the San Mateo County Health Department and American Medical Response West sends a specially trained paramedic to urgent law enforcement requests for individuals having a behavioral emergency. The paramedic can issue a psychiatric hold on a person or arrange for other social services.

It wasn’t enough to save Wong from himself. He was arrested last year for indecent exposure and resisting arrest. In recent weeks, at least one downtown resident reports seeing Wong go from bad to worse.

“I know he was very ill, probably schizophrenia. I saw him a week ago taking a fist to his head, repeatedly hitting his forehead,” said Evelyn Corzberg, a resident at the Gramercy, the apartment building directly across the street from where Wong was shot Monday.

Corzberg heard the shots ring out Monday while she was in her fifth-floor apartment, which overlooks B Street and the bench where Wong often sat.

Wong spent years roaming downtown San Mateo and El Camino Real with his shopping cart. He was usually wearing several layers of clothing, including an oversized puffy jacket. He would often drink and an open bottle of Kesslers Whiskey was found in his shopping cart after he was shot.

At one point, Corzberg recalls watching Wong hitting himself and then stop when a police officer walked by. Corzberg remembers thinking that if only the police officer saw Wong hitting himself, maybe he would have received the help he needed. It seemed, to Corzberg, Wong was getting worse in recent weeks and suffering from severe schizophrenia. Corzberg knows the disease well because a close family member suffered from the illness.

Wong was arrested last summer for indecent exposure and resisting arrest. He was found incompetent to stand trial and was later referred to the San Mateo County Probation Department, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Brunicardi would not confirm previous encounters the department had with Wong, citing the pending investigation.

The District Attorney’s Office is investigating the shooting and the 4-and-a-half year veteran police officer was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

The San Mateo County Coroner’s Office is still trying to locate next of kin and hasn’t officially confirmed Wong’s identity. Finding his next of kin is proving difficult. Wong never listed next of kin on public records and has ties to a couple of states, said Chief Deputy Coroner Tom Marriscolo.

The search could take the rest of the week, Marriscolo said.

Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.