On November 22nd at approximately 2:24 p.m. officers responded to a call for immediate assistance from fire department personnel in the 1400 block of South Atlantic Street. SFD had responded to an aid call regarding a man sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked car. When SFD contacted the man he displayed a firearm. The firefighters retreated to cover and called for immediate SPD assistance. The man appeared to be attempting to unparallel park his car.
Uniformed patrol and SWAT officers responded to the scene and contacted the male subject while he was still seated in the car. Officers could see a handgun in the subject’s hand and subsequently gave the man multiple commands to put down the weapon. The subject raised the gun and three SWAT officers fired their service rifles. The subject was struck several times. SFD personnel were on scene already and rendered medical assistance however, the subject died at the scene.
Homicide and CSI detectives responded to the scene and continue to actively investigate. All three involved officers have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings. A Firearms Review Board will be convened in the future to determine whether the shooting was within Department policy. This information is preliminary and subject to change as the investigation proceeds.