San Francisco Police Release Name Of Tenderloin Standoff Suspect
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Police in San Francisco on Wednesday released the name of a man who barricaded himself inside a Tenderloin building for hours last week following an officer-involved shooting.
At about 6:30 a.m. on April 21, officers responded to a report of a man with a knife in the 500 block of Jones Street, police said.
That's when officers made contact with the armed suspect, identified as 31-year-old Thomas O'Bannon of San Francisco. For more than an hour, officers tried to establish a rapport with O'Bannon and take him into custody, according to police.
However, O'Bannon refused to comply and at some point, an officer-involved shooting occurred. A foot pursuit followed, ending when O'Bannon ran into a nearby building in the 300 block of Ellis Street and barricaded himself inside, police said.
The Police Department's Tactical Unit and the Crisis/Hostage Negotiation Team arrived on scene and tried to get O'Bannon to surrender peacefully. Several hours later, around 9:25 p.m., he was taken into custody.
Medical personnel determined the officer's gunfire did not strike O'Bannon, although he was treated for injuries not considered life-threatening.
According to police, O'Bannon remains under investigation for the events that happened after the officer-involved shooting.
Officers, however, have arrested O'Bannon on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and assault likely to result in great bodily injury in connection with a case that happened earlier that day, around 5:25 a.m. in the 600 block of Post Street.
In that case, O'Bannon is accused of attacking a 60-year-old man with a piece of wood, striking the victim in his face and causing facial fractures, police said.
The victim was hospitalized but has since been released.
The officer-involved shooting is being investigated by the District Attorney's Office, the police Internal Affairs Division and the Department of Police Accountability.
Per SFPD policy, the department will hold a town hall meeting on Thursday on the officer-involved shooting.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the town hall will be held virtually and will be broadcast live on www.SFGovTV.org, at www.youtube.com/sfgtv, or at www.facebook.com/SFPD. A call-in number will be given at the meeting for anyone wishing to leave a comment.