A gunman opened fire on police in a San Francisco shooting incident on Friday.
It happened at a shopping center in the popular South of Market area. The police discovered a man covered in blood in front of the Gift Center & Jewelry store.
Chief of Police, Greg Suhr, said that, initially, the police were uncertain as to whether this was the person they had exchanged fire with a short time before. Their confusion arose from the fact that the man had blood on his clothes, and they couldn’t tell if he was a customer, or the gunman who had shot at them from inside a restaurant.
The police were in a dilemma because they were afraid to shoot back due to the huge numbers of people thronging the streets.
Eventually, the gunman ceased firing as he ran out of ammunition, according to the police version of events. After his surrender, he was arrested and taken to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for his injuries.
Chief Suhr said; “We believe from video in an adjacent store that there was one suspect. We believe that it is the suspect we have in custody.”
Witnesses reported that they had seen the gunman in the vicinity some time before.
Once the police felt it safe to enter the shopping center, they found two women dead in the entrance area. One had been shot and the other had died from knife wounds.
Subsequently, a second man was taken to hospital, with wounds that were much more severe than those of the gunman. He appeared to have been shot AND stabbed.
Police investigators are trying to find out what was the connection between the two men and what was their involvement, if any, in the failed attempt to rob the jewelery store.
One of the witnesses they questioned, Veronica Sirios, said; “Somebody was crying or yelling for help. Then I saw the SWAT. There was a dozen of them. They told us to lock ourselves in.”
She told the San Francisco Chronicle that she had been shopping in the gift center when the shooting started and added: “I saw blood on the way out and a pair of bodies.”
The police will not release the names of the victims in this San Francisco shooting before they notify their families.
[Video courtesy You Tube
