Police Shoot and Kill Man Holding Replica Gun in South San Francisco

Police shot and killed a man during a fight in South San Francisco on Wednesday night. An probe is now underway.

To the 300 block of Oyster Point Boulevard around 7 p.m., police were called. People who called the police said that a guy in his 40s was swearing and trying to get into a public bathroom with a metal object.

The man was seen trying to break into the bathroom when the cops arrived. It was reported that he refused to identify himself and ran away on foot with “what appeared to be a firearm in his hand.”

The suspect was chased by police along a trail that was busy with people walking at the time.

More police officers from several different departments were also called to the scene.

According to the police, they tried to restrain the man with less-lethal weapons but failed. The defendant then pointed the thing he was holding at the police.

Authorities in South San Francisco and San Bruno called the man’s actions a “imminent threat” and opened fire, shooting him.

Medical professionals who were close responded to the scene of the shooting. People at the scene said the man was dead.

According to a probe that followed, the thing he had in his hands was a fake gun.

The man’s name has not been made public. Officers or members of the public were not hurt in any other ways.

Early Thursday, police stayed at the spot because the investigation is still going on.

Police said in a statement that all three officers have been put on paid administrative leave in line with standard practice.

The office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta said that the California Department of Justice is looking into it and will do an independent review as required by Assembly Bill 1506. The DOJ can be reached at 916-210-2871 by anyone who knows anything about the killing.

The killing on Wednesday is the second time in less than a month that a South San Francisco police officer has been killed. Brian Joseph Montana, 60, was shot and killed by police on April 28 after a fight on Arroyo Drive.