San Francisco police fatally shoot armed man

SAN FRANCISCO - A man who authorities say opened fire at an officer was shot and killed by the officer in an alley off busy Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. 

Video obtained by the San Francisco Standard shows the man running down Willow Street near a homeless encampment after being contacted by the officer on Sunday at around 11:55 p.m.  

The officer gives chase and yells at him, "Stop!" 

And then a single shot is heard. That's when the suspect fired at the officer, a source close to the investigation told KTVU. 

That prompts the officer to fire three shots, with the last one apparently hitting the suspect. 

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.

The San Francisco police union posted about the shooting on X and included the same video. The union, which wasn't commenting on the case on behalf of the department, noted one can see the officer reacting to the suspect's gunshot by taking cover. 

The union says the officer then fired shots, "in defense" of his life and other individuals out on the street." 

SFPD says the officer was in the alley while investigating reports of an armed robbery near McAllister and Market streets a half mile away. 

On Monday, chalk circles marked the spots where police recovered evidence from the shootout. 

District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, who represents the Tenderloin, issued a statement on social media. He updated the post to say, "It appears that the suspect was shot in the back while running away, and that police discharged their weapon(s) on a narrow street, with bystanders near the suspect, and adjacent to the busy traffic of Van Ness. We have not seen body cam footage to get a better understanding of the initial situation the officers were responding to. We hope that the mandatory town hall will provide additional clarity about this incident."

The alley where the shooting happened is frequented by the homeless. On the ground, KTVU spotted a box of Narcan, a drug used to reverse symptoms of overdose from opioids like fentanyl. 

"I know that I'm a pretty good judge of character, and I can say he had a really good heart and was a good person," said Danielle Wiley, who said she knew the man who was killed. 

She said the man was from Nicaragua originally and that there should have been alternatives to him losing his life. 

"Some people react, you know, it's like fight or flight sometimes we don't really think before, you know, things happen. I feel like there should be other ways instead of somebody shoots at you or whatever, like it shouldn't be necessarily like shoot back," she said. 

 The alley has been a source of concern for neighbors like Michael Park, who’s lived in the area for several years and heard several shots he initially believed to be fireworks. 

"It’s been in really bad condition for quite a long time," Park said. "There’s people who, folks who live in my building who have kids who have to drive through this every day, right?"

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 10 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".     

Editor's note: This article was edited to include D5 Supervisor Dean Preston's comments.