Police officers shoot, kill armed suspect in San Francisco
San Francisco officers killed an armed male in an encounter Sunday night in the city.
Police said that around 11:55 p.m., they responded to the area of Willow Street and Van Ness Avenue to investigate an armed robbery that occurred at McAllister Street.
Upon arrival, they tried to approach a man armed with a firearm. However, this led to a shooting, and the suspect was struck by gunfire, police said.
First responders provided first aid to the armed male who was sent to a hospital to treat his life-threatening injuries. However, he was eventually declared dead.
His identity was not released immediately by the police.
Drew Youngwerth, a resident who witnessed the event, described the scene.
"I heard five or six loud noises. I was hoping they were fireworks, and then I just looked down in my window, and I saw a guy collapsed on the ground," said Youngwerth, who has lived in the area for three years.
Youngwerth added, "The police were telling him to basically put his hands out..he was kind of trying to respond, it seems like it…he put his hands out and then on his head…they really wanted him to spread them out, but I don't think he could understand that or something was going on and he couldn't move all the way out like that."
To gain further insight into the fatal shooting, KPIX spoke with Professor John Gross from the Public Defender's Program at the University of Wisconsin. He noted that there are still many unanswered questions because the videos do not clearly show what provoked such a significant response from the officers.
"Generally, officers are not supposed to use deadly force against a fleeing suspect unless very specific conditions are met, one, if they believe that suspect has committed a violent felony and in the course of committing that violent felony threatened to use deadly force or used deadly force and then secondly they also have to have the belief that the first part is true, even if this is the suspect that they're looking for, that's not enough, they also have to have the belief that if that suspect escapes they'll use, they'll use deadly force against someone else," Gross explained.
Police said the officer-involved shooting is being investigated by the District Attorney's Office, the Chief Medical Examiner's Office, the San Francisco Police Department's Internal Affairs and Investigative Services divisions, and the Department of Police Accountability.
"All information is preliminary and could be subject to change. This remains an open and active investigation. Additional information will be released as it becomes available. As part of SFPD's commitment to transparency and accountability, a town hall meeting regarding this officer-involved shooting will be held within ten days," police said.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact San Francisco police at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with "SFPD".
Jose Martinez contributed to this report.
