A Palo Alto man subject to an active restraining order involving a local school was booked after allegedly firing a gun at a Stratford School staff member who immediately recognized him from past encounters. Police say 67-year-old Bradford Minkoff opened fire on the Stratford School campus at about 7:10 a.m. on Oct. 14, and was taken into custody after a brief negotiation.
According to Palo Alto Online, the incident unfolded outside school hours, with no students on campus at the time. Police said Minkoff fired at the employee on the Stratford School campus, who then looked toward the source of the shot and saw Minkoff looking over the fence that separates the school from a residence on Garland Drive, near the 800 block of California Avenue. The employee recognized him from prior negative interactions. Officers said the shot missed the staffer but struck a nearby wall.
Officers managed to take Minkoff into custody after what police described as a brief negotiation. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has since charged him with felony assault with a deadly weapon, along with misdemeanor counts of discharging a BB device with gross negligence and violating a protective order. Per a news release cited by the outlet, Stratford School had an active restraining order against Minkoff at the time of the shooting.
A Troubling Echo of a 2021 Shooting
This is not the first time Minkoff’s name has surfaced in connection with gunfire near Stratford School. In 2021, he was accused of shooting a student in the back with an air rifle while the child was playing on the school’s athletic field during lunch, the outlet reported. That student suffered only minor injuries and, according to CBS News, did not require medical attention because the BB failed to penetrate the student’s clothing.
CBS News reported that the 2021 suspect was identified as a neighboring resident who had been seen peering over his fence just before that shooting, and that police said only a single shot was fired that day. The San Francisco Chronicle reported at the time that Minkoff was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon, felony child abuse, and creating a disruption on a school campus. Police also said Minkoff had threatened to shoot a school custodian over noise from music and a barking dog, according to a police report cited in Palo Alto Online’s reporting.
Age Discrepancy and Unanswered Questions
Minkoff was identified as 62 years old in coverage of the 2021 case, while this week’s report lists him as 67. The gap between the two figures is consistent with roughly five years passing between the incidents, though neither report reconciles the exact birthdate behind the discrepancy.
Bail, a court date, and any plea in the new case have likewise not been made public.
Palo Alto police are asking anyone with information to call 650-329-2413 or text the keyword PAPD to 847411.
