The shocking moment when San Francisco police officers shot a man dead in a hail of bullets on Wednesday afternoon was caught on video as it’s revealed that the cops were in the area pursuing another man.
The incident occurred in the Bayview section of the city. A local resident told KTVU that that the man who was shot suffered from mental illness. At the time of writing, his identity has not been made public.
Social media footage showed him lying on the ground after he had been shot, with what appeared to be a handgun by his side.
The encounter began after plainclothes officers attempted to arrest a suspect on the corner of Catalina Street and Fairfax Avenue shortly before 3pm.
A second man then arrived, believed to be unconnected to the first, and the plainclothes police called for uniformed backup.
The uniformed officers confronted the second man, who had his right hand in his pocket at all times.
The unnamed man confronted plainclothes police in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon, as they attempted to arrest another man
The man can be seen standing facing the officers – his right hand was permanently in his pocket
A crowd gathered, with one woman yelling to another, who was filming: ‘Hey lady, back up! He’s got a gun!’
She replied: ‘Don’t touch me – I don’t care.’
One of the bystanders can be heard saying: ‘They’re going to kill him right here.’
The man, who was black, at one point walked back towards the crowd and gestured to them – all the time keeping his right hand in his pocket.
Police told him to drop the weapon, a spokesman for the force later said.
The man yells at officers, and appears to be walking away, when they opened fire.
He fell to the ground, still alive, with what looked like a handgun by his side. Police are yet to confirm whether it was real.
Officers ran to the scene, kicked the gun out of reach, then tried to push the crowd back.
The man died in hospital.
The man challenged the police for several minutes, his right hand permanently in his pocket. Police reportedly yelled at him to drop his weapon
A large crowd gathered – many of them filming the encounter – and the man turned, right hand still in his pocket, and gestured at them
Residents in the nearby apartment blocks also filmed the encounter
Police opened fire, seemingly as he walked away, and the man keeled over
A woman filming on her phone approached the body before officers could get there
What appeared to be a gun can be seen lying by the victim’s left side
An officer approached a woman who was filming and told her to back up, then kicked the gun away from the victim’s hand
The man was still alive, and an ambulance called: he later died in hospital
‘The second male appeared to be armed with a firearm,’ said Officer Robert Rueca, of San Francisco police department.
‘How it was displayed, or how it was seen, we are not specifying at this time.’
A town hall meeting will be held to discuss the investigation within 10 days.
The shooting comes as San Francisco struggles to deal with soaring theft, an increasingly-desolate downtown, and a rise in homicides.
Murders in the city are up 23 percent, year on year, and robbery has increased by 13 percent.
