UPDATE: Man Shot By SFPD On Market Street Still Critical; Video Of Incident Shared On Social Media
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Police in San Francisco on Wednesday said the man shot by officers on Market Street early Tuesday evening after brandishing a knife remains in critical condition.
San Francisco police issued a news release Wednesday evening providing additional details on the Tuesday incident. Police said officers responded to reports of male subjects, including one reportedly armed with a knife, at 5th and Market Streets shortly after 5 p.m. near the entrance to the Westfield Center.
Arriving officers found one male suspect who police said was brandishing a knife. A witness KPIX spoke with Tuesday night said the suspect was waving a large knife.
"It was a big knife, pretty damn big knife," said witness Ezra Ortiz. "He was walking around with it, waving it around. The cops tried to seclude him and get him away from the public ... they got him secluded and he was not moving and he was still being sporadic. They were trying to get him to follow directions and he wasn't following directions and unfortunately they fired on him tonight."
Police said prior to the suspect being critically injured in the officer-involved shooting, SFPD officers tried using less-lethal weapons and a San Francisco Sheriff's Office deputy deployed a Taser.
Police said the injured suspect was taken into custody and transported to an area hospital with a gunshot wound. The suspect, an unidentified 26-year-old-male, is still hospitalized with life-threatening injuries as of Wednesday night.
Police said the suspect would be identified once he has been booked at County Jail.
In the news release, San Francisco police said authorities were aware of a video of the incident that was shared on social media. Police have forwarded the to be part of the internal investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
The video shared on Instagram can be viewed below. (Warning: The video contains disturbing images):
The person who posted the video on Instagram claimed he did not see a Taser used during the incident.
Police asked the public to note when viewing the video, that SFPD officers used less-lethal options including both the 12 gauge and 40 mm extended range impact weapons (ERIWs) that, when fired at the suspect, sounded like gunfire in the clip.
Police said the officer-involved shooting incident is currently being investigated by the San Francisco District Attorney's Office Independent Investigations Bureau (IIB), the Department of Police Accountability (DPA), the San Francisco Police Department Investigative Services Division (ISD) and the SFPD Internal Affairs Division (IAD).
As part of the San Francisco Police Department's commitment towards accountability and transparency with the community, the SFPD has tentatively scheduled a virtual town hall meeting on the incident next Tuesday. Police will release more details ahead of the meeting and anticipated releasing officer body-worn camera (BWC) footage at the meeting.
Anyone with information about the incident, including cell phone video, is asked to call the SFPD Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous.
