A shooting Monday outside a cannabis business in SoMa led SFPD officers to surround a building where, later, a shootout took place with the apparent suspect in the first in the shooting, who ended up dead.
It was a violent evening at Ninth and Mission Monday, beginning with a shooting at 4:56 pm that left one man critically injured, identified by several sources as the owner of a cannabis store on Ninth Street.
According to one witness description given to KTVU, the victim was lying "under a blanket" on the street, which is not consistent with other reports. "He was just lying there and all of a sudden, this guy comes out of a door. He just came out, and shot him point-blank, three times."
This all happened outside the cannabis business Vapor Room at 79 Ninth Street, and police officers arrived to find the victim with life-threatening injuries, as KRON4 reported.
The X account FriscoLive415 had footage of police outside the Vapor Room placing evidence markers on the ground, and they identified the victim as Vapor Room owner Martin Olive, though this has not been confirmed. A source separately told SFist that Olive was hospitalized and in stable condition as of 11 pm Monday.
We have been on scene for over two hours trying to g to piece this story and incident together and we are now reporting that Martin Olive, owner of Vapor Room, was shot outside in 9th street late this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/K5See2YsHo
— FriscoLive415 (@friscolive415) January 28, 2025
The police had information that the shooter had retreated into a nearby building, and the public was told to avoid the area.
A standoff ensued lasting about four hours, involving hostage negotiators trying to coax the suspect out. Police have provided few details so far about what happened next, but around 9:19 pm, shots appear to have been exchanged and the suspect was fatally shot by police.
Here is the official statement from the SFPD:
"Officers set up a perimeter around the building to safely apprehend the suspect and developed a strategic plan utilizing the assistance of additional SFPD resources such as Specialist, Tactical, and Hostage Negotiation teams. The suspect failed to comply and refused to exit the building. During this contact, an officer-involved shooting occurred. Officers made entry and located the suspect who was suffering from life-threatening injuries. Officers and paramedics rendered aid on scene. Despite the lifesaving efforts of first responders, the suspect was pronounced deceased. During the investigation, a firearm was recovered at the scene."
As part of protocol, the SFPD will host a virtual town hall meeting within 10 days and will present the bodycamera and other footage from the incident.
The shooting will be investigated by the SF District Attorney's Office, the SFPD Internal Affairs Division (IAD), and the Department of Police Accountability, among other agencies.
A man working as a retail security guard in Union Square was shot and killed by police last month, and footage from that incident was released on December 30.