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SFPD, sheriff’s deputy use arsenal of weapons against man armed with knife
A man is in critical condition after he was shot by police when San Francisco Police Department and a sheriff's deputy responded to a fight outside the Westfield Centre mall on Tuesday. Police say the man was armed with a knife.
SAN FRANCISCO - A man is in critical condition after he was shot by police when San Francisco police and a sheriff's deputy responded to a fight outside the Westfield Centre mall on Tuesday. Police say the man was armed with a knife.
Police said they responded to a physical fight between several men in front of the Timberland store outside the mall at around 5:09 p.m. When officers approached, a man brandished a knife.
Police responded by shooting the man, and also said a sheriff's deputy at the scene used a Taser on him. Police also used less-than-lethal bean bag rounds on the man. SFPD are not armed with Tasers.
Police did not say in what order the weapons were used against the suspect.
The 26-year-old suspect was taken to Zuckerberg-SF General Hospital with a gunshot wound. Police did not have an update on his condition, but a hospital spokesperson told KTVU he was in critical condition. His identity will be released once he is booked into the County Jail, police said in an update on Wednesday.
Police also indicated they were aware of a video of the incident that was shared on social media.
In the post by Instragram user @jhonatittz they said that despite the suspect being armed with a knife, that the officers and deputy acted aggressively, did not communicate with one another effectively and endangered civillians along a busy Market Street in the middle of the day.
Police said the video would be entered into the investigation. They also took the opportunity to clear up any confusion by saying their less than lethal weapons sound like gunfire when deployed.
It was not clear if anyone else was taken into custody in relation to the initial altercation.
San Francisco police asked the public to avoid the area of Market and 5th streets while they investigated.
BART had temporarily closed its Powell Street station due to the police activity, but the station reopened shortly after 6 p.m.
Police scanner traffic mentioned someone in the street armed with a knife and a frying pan.
The scene of the incident was cleared just after 9 p.m.
The San Francisco district attorney's office of Independent Investigations Bureau as well as the Department of Police Accountability, SFPD Investigative Services Division, and SFPD Internal Affairs Division are investigating the shooting.
A virtual town hall meeting has been tentatively scheduled on this incident for Tuesday, November 24.
KTVU's Amber Lee and Bay City News contributed to this story.