A man with what appeared to be a machete or long knife was shot by San Francisco police Monday night on Jones Street in the Tenderloin, and the incident was widely captured on cellphone video by bystanders.
The shooting happened around 10:22 p.m. Monday, and according to the SFPD, officers responded to a report of a man armed with a knife and threatening people on the 300 block of Jones Street.
Officers arrived on the scene and located the suspect, and video suggests that they were shouting at him to remain still and drop his belongings. Per KTVU, one of the videos from the scene shows officers saying, "Sit down and talk to us."
It's unclear how long the confrontation lasted.
Video from a bystander shows the man brandishing a long knife just as an officer shouts "Red light!" — part of police procedure when dealing with an potentially armed suspect. Several shots were then fired, and then man fell.
Video obtained by @KTVU shows man pulling out knife while walking before he is shot by @SFPD near Jones & Ellis in the Tenderloin. Man taken to hospital w/life-threatening injuries pic.twitter.com/xwxDC09dDL
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) August 29, 2023
A release from the SFPD explains that paramedics were already "staged nearby," and they rendered aid at the scene. The man was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. His current condition is not known.
It is not clear from the videos how imminent the threat was to officers who fired, but this is not the first time that a suspect brandishing a knife and refusing to drop it has been shot by police.
A homeless man with a knife appearing to threaten the life of another man in a scuffle was fatally shot by San Francisco police in May 2022, and a knife-wielding man was killed by police at a Folsom Street SRO in November 2021.
Infamously, SFPD officers fatally shot Mario Woods multiple times in December 2015 as he stood on a sidewalk holding a kitchen knife and not appearing to be a threat in any way. That shooting led to widespread protest and a movement to traind SFPD officers in de-escalation techniques.
The San Francisco District Attorney's Office, the San Francisco Police Department's Investigative Services and Internal Affairs divisions, and the city's Department of Police Accountability are investigating the shooting, and video posted to Citizen showed a large number of police remaining at the scene Monday night.
As per SFPD protocol, a town hall meeting on the shooting will be scheduled within 10 days.
This remains an open investigation and anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444.
Photo via Citizen
