Man fatally shot by police in SoMa was former Afghan interpreter for US military

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco police on Wednesday released videos in the deadly shooting of a man with a knife at a South of Market residential hotel. 

Surveillance video shows Ajmal Amani, 41, charging toward two San Francisco police officers inside the hotel. Officers said he was armed with a knife

Commander Paul Yep said Officer John Quinlan fired four rounds from his service weapon. Officer Danny De Leon Garcia fired his "less than lethal" bean-bag weapon.

"As Mr. Amani closed the distance, officer 1 and officer 2 fired their respective weapons, striking Mr. Amani. Mr. Amani fell to the ground with the knife nearby him," Yep said.

Amani died at the hospital. Authorities said they recovered a knife with a 6-inch blade.

The shooting happened Friday morning at the CW residential hotel at 5th and Folsom.

Minutes earlier, police said Amani had the knife while threatening two hotel employees. They said he was also yelling and screaming..

Chief Bill Scott said he was reserving judgment on the shooting until investigations are completed by his department and prosecutors. 

But he said, "I can express on behalf of all of us in the department our condolences to Mr. Amani's family and loved ones for the loss they suffered."

Amani was a former Afghan interpreter for the U.S. military. He survived being shot several times but suffered from PTSD.

"He worked for years embedded with United States special forces and suffered unbelievable trauma and violence," said San Francisco deputy public defender Scott Grant. 

Grant represented Amani in 2019, when he was accused of stabbing a park ranger. That case was dismissed through mental-health diversion, which Amani successfully completed. 

"His tragic death is a failure of our systems of government here to support somebody who risked his life to support this country," Grant said.