Update, July 27: The man shot dead by San Francisco police was identified by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Thursday morning. He was city resident Ryant Bluford, 41.
Police have confirmed that a man shot in a Bayview standoff with officers has died of his wounds.
The shooting occurred at the intersection of Catalina Street and Fairfax Avenue at around 2:53 p.m., and was caught on video posted on Twitter by @campaignrallo. A Black man with a knit cap can be seen standing in the middle of the street while a trio of officers are in defensive positions behind their vehicle with guns drawn at about 10 to 15 yards away.
The man shouts and gesticulates at the officers, at one point extending his middle finger. It is a chaotic scene, with bystanders’ frantic screams caught up on the microphone of the camera recording the goings on.
Thirty seconds into the video, bystanders shout, “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot him!” But, almost immediately thereafter, the man raises what appears to be a pistol toward the officers and is instantaneously cut down in a barrage of police gunfire. At least eight shots were fired.
Ironwood Way
W Point Rd
At around 2:53 p.m., a
man was shot at the
intersection of Catalina
and Fairfax after
apparently pointing
a pistol at officers.
A trio of officers stood
behind the doors of
their police crusier.
They opened fire when
the man appeared to
brandish a gun.
Catalina St
Fairfax Ave
A trio of officers
stood behind the
doors of their
police crusier.
They opened
fire when the
man appeared
to brandish a gun.
W Point Rd
At around 2:53 p.m., a
man was shot at the
intersection of Catalina
and Fairfax after
apparently pointing
a pistol at officers.
Fairfax Ave
The Catalina and Fairfax intersection, where a man was killed by SFPD officers after appearing to brandish a gun. Graphic by Will Jarrett, basemap from Google Earth.
In a press release, the San Francisco Police Department said that the incident that led to the lethal shooting started when police detained a man. Mission Local is told that the officers were part of the SFPD Community Violence Reduction Team — formerly known as the Gang Task Force.
Another man who was apparently armed “engaged the officers” during this incident, according to the SFPD press release. A police source tells us this led the officers on-scene to “call a 10-25” — a call for backup; at least seven police vehicles were seen zipping down Mission Street at high speed at this time. Numerous officers responded prior to the standoff and shooting.
CPR was purportedly performed on the man, but the police have confirmed he did not survive.
This is the third fatal police shooting so far this year. Marc Child was shot and killed last month in his parents’ home in the Outer Richmond. Sergio Barrios was killed in an apartment complex in Glen Park in May.
Police have said they will announce the time and date of a forthcoming town hall meeting in the next couple of days.
Crime is trauma and the county offers different services, which can be found here. Victims of violent crime can also contact the Trauma Recovery Center at UCSF.
Looks justified to me.. it appears to look like he wanted a suicide by cop thing..
Just because someone wants to provoke police officers to kill him doesn’t mean the police have to oblige. Police are (supposedly) trained to deescalate in this situation. Total fail here.
Rebecca, It’s very hard to know what this man was doing. Was he “provoking” the officers to kill him or was he, well, all the officers knew was that he was a definite threat. It appeared to be a pistol (it actually was) and it was pointed at the officers. Should they wait until he pulls the trigger? The officers could not walk away and neither could they duck and hope things would work out. The subject was out in the open with no containment; he had freedom of movement (all factors). Could the officers have said magic words that would have de-escalated the situation? Unlikely. Sometimes there are no other options. Not a total failure.
Moral of the story, don’t point a gun at the police.
Unless it’s suicide by officer, they obliged.
Open and closed case. Justified. DA Jenkins should write her declination letter and close the case in 45 days. Good job officers. Baystanders…. Not so much.
Point a gun at police you get shot. Done and done. Now let’s move on Nice work by police
This doesn’t look like someone pointing a “finger” to me..looks like a gun!
“what appeared to be a gun.”
Were any firearms found on the deceased?
Looks like suicide by cop!
always tragic. why isn’t sfpd using bolawrap, the non-lethal device that instantly ties up suspects like this?
Probably because if you aim it high to the arms you can get the neck if the person drops down. Plus the wrap will not remove the gun from the hand leading to the person to shoot.
If someone is pointing a gun at you, would you rely on a string with weights? NOOOPE
This is tragic. 🙁
Im thinking chemical induced psychological issues…
Summary SFPD execution for someone in psych crisis.
Brooke Jenkins, of course, is just fine with that.
Why does someone prone to be in “psych crisis” appear to have a gun handy to point at the police? An article today says it was fired.
How many times should SFPD let a convicted felon in psych crisis fire a gun on the streets before violent intervention is justified?
There’s a way to intervene and deescalate this type of situation… so no one has to die
Be specific: what is that way? How well does it work?
Is there a way? That works all the time? Really? No matter what, the police can de-escalate if they just do it right? And how were they supposed to de-escalate once he had pointed a pistol at him?