Federal Officer Shooting Suspect To Enter Plea Friday

A Union City optometry teacher facing in connection to a Newark shooting that injured an off-duty federal officer is scheduled to enter a plea Friday morning.

Dennis Bagwell, 61, of Piedmont will appear at the Fremont Hall of Justice at 9 a.m. to enter a plea to charges of attempted murder and assault with a firearm.

Bagwell was arrested Feb. 7 in Union City after officers responded to the 7700 block of Mayhews Landing  Road and found a Robert Suplik outside of his one-story home.

At his Feb. 29 scheduled court appearance, Bagwell did not appear before an Alameda County Superior Court judge. Instead, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Philip Sarkisian granted Deputy Attorney General Esther La’s request to ban Bagwell from practicing as an optician.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Bagwell had once operated Redwood City Optical. He most recently taught at the Bay Area Optical Schools in Union City and was a property manager of an apartment complex at the Piedmont-Oakland border.

Bagwell is said to have known Suplik’s wife, Iryna Smith, whom he had taught at the Bay Area Optical Schools.

Authorities have not released a direct motive, but Bagwell may have had a “near obsession” with Smith.

Bagwell is being held on no bail at Santa Rita Jail.