Video Captures At Least Nine Cops Surround, Shoot at California Knife-Wielding Man At Least Fifteen Times
Police say five of the officers fired their guns.
Police in San Francisco shot and killed a man they say was a suspected stabber after he approached an officer while holding a knife. Video posted of the incident to Instagram shows at least nine officers pointing their guns at the man, who appears to be trying to walk away as an officer moves in front of him before police begin to shoot.
The police chief, Greg Suhr, said the video confirmed the man "does move toward officers," although all but one appear to be in his path. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
Suhr said he did not know how many shots were fired, but the suspect "had already demonstrated, by committing a felony aggravated assault, that he was a danger to others, so he could not be allowed to move away from the scene."
The police chief said the officers' account of the shooting was supported by witnesses on the bus and by the video.
Police say five of the officers opened fire, and that the incident occurred after the officers tried and failed to restrain the man, including by use of bean bags, but do not say that he resisted with force before the incident on the video. Police said he had a six-to-eight inch blade with which he was alleged to have stabbed another man in the shoulder earlier.
Watch the video, which was reposted to YouTube, below: