Mission Street between 23rd and 24th was briefly shut down by police between 12:45 p.m. and 1 p.m. after a 53-year-old man barricaded himself inside his hotel room and threatened suicide, according to police.
At 9:58 a.m. police were called by someone in the single-room occupancy Crystal Hotel at 2766 Mission St., according to police spokesperson Albie Esparza. The caller said that the man was “threatening the hotel manager” with violence, according to Esparza. Officers arrived by 11:36 a.m. and said the man threatened violence against the police and barricaded himself in his room, refusing to answer the door.
Police on site said they were initially unsure whether a gun was involved, prompting them to close traffic on the block. It was unclear how the police managed to get the man into custody, but they “made contact with him and he surrendered,” according to Esparza. He was then evaluated on site and transported to the psych ward at San Francisco General Hospital for temporary custody under police code 5150 for being a possible danger to others, according to police on site.
By shortly after 1 p.m., with the situation under control, Mission Street was reopened to vehicle and foot traffic.
The situation at first appeared to be a bomb threat or hostage crisis, with some officers on site believing someone had been taken hostage and witnesses saying they saw people and officers running in and out of the Bank of America down the block and across the street.
“Here were so many cop cars,” said Abraham, who was sitting in front of the Mi Pueblito Market across the street. “Everybody ran inside of the stores. They said a man had a gun and other things. All I saw was the cops walking him out and putting him in the car. He didn’t look hurt.”
We need to change our suicidal thoughts for eveybody.