A man who was reportedly acting erratically and refusing to comply with police commands while waving around a large knife on Tuesday evening was shot and wounded by police.
The incident took place on the Market Street sidewalk outside the Westfield shopping mall around 5 p.m. As KPIX reports, officers responded to reports of a fight between multiple men on the sidewalk, but when they arrived they found just one suspect behaving abnormally and threateningly, with the knife in hand.
"It was a big knife, pretty damn big knife," said one witness, speaking to KPIX. "He was walking around with it, waving it around. The cops tried to seclude him and get him away from the public."
The sequence of events is not yet clear, and an internal investigation has begun into the officer-involved shooting. Witnesses tell KPIX there was a "flurry" of shots fired. Police say that multiple types of rounds were used, including non-lethal rounds. But at least one officer fired his service revolver, and the man was taken to the hospital to be treated for his injuries.
SFPD spokesperson Officer Robert Rueca issued a statement saying, "We know that an officer-involved shooting occurred. The time frame of when weapons were used at what time during the contact are all under investigation."
BREAKING: Officer-involved shooting in San Francisco. @SFPD PIO Robert Rueca confirms an officer shot someone on Market Street near 5th. The man was rushed to the hospital and is still alive, Rueca said. pic.twitter.com/bBqV9CLIk3
— Joe Vazquez (@joenewsman) November 18, 2020
The block of Market Street between Fourth and Fifth streets was blocked off for a period of time after the incident. The SFPD tweeted at 6:39 p.m. that an officer-involved shooting had occurred and warned people to avoid the area near the mall.
Around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, BART tweeted that trains were not stopping at Powell Station due to street-level police activity near the station.
Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
