Police shoot, kill security guard near San Francisco's Union Square suspected in hit-and-run
Police in San Francisco shot and killed a man early Friday morning near Union Square who was wanted for hitting two pedestrians and a bicyclist with a vehicle hours earlier.
The shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. Friday when officers found the suspect's vehicle around in the area of Grant Avenue and Post Street.
About seven hours earlier, San Francisco police said officers had responded Thursday evening to reports of a vehicle driving recklessly and erratically on the sidewalk on Kearny Street between Post and Sutter Streets. Assistant Police Chief David Lazar said at at press conference Friday morning that the vehicle clipped two pedestrians on the sidewalk who had just left a restaurant at the corner of Kearny and Post.
The vehicle continued after the bicyclist, hitting the back of the bicycle in the area of Kearny and Sutter Street, Lazar said.
"The victim of that collision, which we are labeling an aggravated assault, jumped off and took off running and we believe ran up to 233 Sutter," said Lazar. "At this point, we haven't found that victim and we definitely want that victim to come forward. We believe he is a Hispanic male in his 20s."
Witnesses saw the suspect driver unsuccessfully try to put the bicycle in the vehicle. Lazar said the driver took some of the victim's property and fled from the area.
Officers treated the pedestrians, two females 18 and 17 years old, before medics arrived. They were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Investigators began interviewing witnesses and locating surveillance video to identify the suspect and the vehicle. Lazar said the suspect was identified as a security guard at the Dior store in the same area at Post Street and Grant Avenue.
The suspect was found standing in front of the Dior store at about 1:38 a.m. after police set up a plan to safely approach him, Lazar said.
"After an attempt to take the suspect into custody was unsuccessful, the officers were involved in an officer-involved shooting," Lazar said. "The details of that officer-involved shooting are still being figured out. We're still looking at all the evidence, we don't have all the specifics on that."
Officers provided aid to the suspect and paramedics took him to a hospital where he died of his injuries.
Earlier Friday morning, a police press release stated officers had approached the suspect who was armed in his vehicle. When asked at the press conference whether the suspect was armed, Lazar could not confirm the earlier account.
"We're still sorting exactly out what the suspect had and what the suspect did, his actions. I will say, though, that, um, upon my arrival this morning, there was a firearm on the ground at the scene that belonged, we believe, that I believe belonged to the suspect."
A suspect vehicle was towed from the scene, Lazar said.
Police said the fatal shooting was also being investigated by the District Attorney's Office, the police department's investigative services and internal affairs divisions, the Chief Medical Examiner's Office, and the Department of Police Accountability.
Streets were still closed in the area around Union Square as of 8 a.m. Additional information would be released as available and all information was preliminary and subject to change, police said.
The department said a town hall meeting about the fatal shooting will be held within ten days.
Any witnesses and or additional victims were asked to call the police department at 415-575-4444 or text TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.