San Francisco police officers presented videos on Wednesday that showed that 28-year-old Alexander Antonio Lopez, who was shot and killed by police last week in the Tenderloin, had fired at officers while running away from them before he was shot.
The videos, both surveillance footage and officer-worn camera footage, released as part of a mandatory town hall required after police shootings, showed Lopez twisted around and aimed a shot at Officer Paul Balza, who had arrived at Willow Street in the Tenderloin after a call about a stolen scooter on July 21.
At that point, Balza stopped running and shot at Lopez three times. The third hit Lopez’s torso and he collapsed, falling face first onto the street. The gun fell out of arm’s reach, about 10 feet to the left of Lopez’s head. At that point, Lopez was still alive and waved his arms around.
Balza and his partner then positioned themselves behind a car parked on Willow, the body camera video showed, and were soon joined by several other police officers. “Put your arms out to the side like an airplane!” the officers yelled at Lopez. “Do not reach for the gun. If you reach for the gun, you will be shot.”
The officers brought out shields and approached Lopez, keeping their guns trained on him. He put up no resistance and lay on his stomach with his arms outstretched, wearing his backpack.
“This is so unnecessary,” a woman lying on the sidewalk on Willow Street said to the police as they approached Lopez. According to a witness interviewed by Mission Local on July 22, a woman, possibly Lopez’s girlfriend, was on the scene and called for medical support.
After detaining him, police provided Lopez with medical care and brought him to a hospital, where he died. Police said that Lopez’s gun seemingly misfired, as a bullet was jammed in the chamber.
The police account had started with a 911 call from a man, who, through a Spanish translator, explained that his black-and-red scooter had been stolen by a man with a gray pistol at United Nations Plaza.
Thirty minutes later, police officers patrolling north of the plaza spotted a man with a red-and-black scooter who matched the robbery victim’s description: A 20-40 year old white man, approximately 5-feet-6-inches tall, wearing a blue-and-white sweater and dark bottoms.
They pulled over and Balza, who was sitting in the passenger seat, got out of the car to run after Lopez, who was sprinting down Willow Street. “Stop, stop,” Balza yelled after him.
At the virtual town hall meeting on Wednesday, the San Francisco Police Department showed audio and video of the fatal Tenderloin police shooting. The incident, which occurred on Willow Street between Polk Street and Van Ness Avenue shortly before midnight on July 21, was the second police shooting of 2024, and the first fatal one.
“The officers displayed incredible bravery under extreme circumstances and upheld the core tenets of what it takes to be a San Francisco police officer,” Northern Station Captain Jason Sawyer said after the videos were shown.
At the town hall, Chief Bill Scott emphasized that there are still ongoing investigations from multiple city agencies, including the District Attorney’s Office, the SFPD’s Investigative Services Division and Internal Affairs Division, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and the Department of Police Accountability.
Sawyer and Daniel Manning, acting captain of Tenderloin Police Station when the shooting occurred, told viewers that they could bring their concerns to the monthly community meetings that every police station hosts.
“At our monthly community meeting last night, I listened to the community’s perspectives, and will be incorporating their feedback,” Manning said.
After the presentation from the SFPD, the floor was opened for public comment. None of the 211 viewers of the livestream spoke up, and the meeting concluded after an hour.
Nice work SFPD!
Open and closed case. Another good job done by our SFPD.