San Francisco police officers were called to a home in the Richmond District early Thursday on a report of an aggravated assault in progress, and things soon turned deadly.
The incident happened around 2:39 a.m. on the 700 block of 31st Avenue. Police officers arrived at the home and were told by an injured 84-year-old man in the doorway that the suspect inside had assaulted him and a woman who may have been his wife inside.
"During the interaction, the 37-year-old suspect, who was armed with a knife, advanced toward the officer and the victim from inside the home and an officer-involved shooting occurred," the SFPD says in a release.
Officers then rendered aid to the suspect, but on entering the home, they found that a 76-year-old woman inside had been killed, as well as a dog.
The suspect was taken to a hospital where he later died. He was, reportedly, the adult son of the two victims.
The SF Standard has identified the deceased suspect at Marc Child, a licensed attorney in California with an apparent history of mental illness and previous attacks on his parents. The Standard dug up previous criminal records and a restraining order the parents filed against their son in 2021, saying that he heard "voices" and that "unprovoked fits of anger" and "outbursts have become increasingly more frequent and volatile, and we are afraid." The father also described how the couple's dogs feared their son as well.
In the Thursday morning incident, the father reportedly sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The incident is being investigated by the SFPD's Internal Affairs division and the SF District Attorney's Office.
Per the department release, "As part of SFPD’s commitment to transparency and accountability, a town hall meeting regarding this officer-involved shooting will be held within ten days."
This is the first officer-involved shooting in SF since August 2022, when police engaged in a shootout on Shotwell Street with a suspected bike thief.
This post has been updated throughout