2 men dead; SFPD officers involved in shooting during aggravated assault call

Two men died Thursday in the Dogpatch neighborhood after San Francisco police fired shots while responding to a call of an aggravated assault – but it wasn't immediately made clear whether they died as a result of being shot by police. Amanda Quintana reports

SAN FRANCISCO - Two men died Thursday in the Dogpatch neighborhood after San Francisco police fired shots while responding to a call of an aggravated assault – but it wasn't immediately made clear whether they died as a result of being shot by police.

Police responded to the call in the area of Mariposa and Owens streets just before 8 p.m. and arrived to find two men in a fight, which led to gunfire, police said.

Officer Kathryn Winters said officers arrived at the scene, contacted the two men and that during that contact an "officer-involved shooting occurred."

Winters said officers rendered aid and medics responded.

One man died at the scene. The second person was taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center with life-threatening injuries. He later died of his injuries.

It is not clear if the men died because of the fight, the shooting or something else. The victims' identities were released on Friday. They are Michael MacFhionghain, 57, and Rafael Mendoza, 49.

It is not known how many officers are involved in this shooting. An SFPD officer provided an update on social media to say no suspect was at large.

During a Thursday night news conference, one person heckled the police: "Ya'll killed somebody, again!"

SFPD will hold a town-hall meeting within 10 days of the shooting in alignment with department protocol on officer-involved shootings. SFPD is a department where officers are equipped with body-worn cameras.

The shooting is under investigation by the San Francisco district attorney's office as well as the SFPD Investigative Services Division, Internal Affairs, the Department of Police Accountability and the Medical Examiner.