San Francisco police shot and killed a man they believe was an armed Dior security guard who had crashed into two pedestrians and a cyclist hours earlier near Union Square.
The San Francisco Police Department said the man was suspected of plowing into two young women on a sidewalk at Kearny and Post streets at “a high rate of speed” around 6:30 p.m. Thursday. He then ran down a nearby bicyclist, police said.
Officers spotted the suspect’s vehicle near Grant Avenue and Post Street around 1:30 a.m. Friday, the SFPD said in a press release.
Officers fatally shot the allegedly armed man in the ensuing encounter, the department said. Authorities did not say how many officers used their guns. Police found a weapon at the scene, but it’s unclear if the suspect fired it at officers.
Before the shooting, officers “coordinated a strategic plan and set up a perimeter to safely approach the occupied vehicle,” the press release says, adding that “during the encounter, an officer-involved shooting occurred. The armed male suspect was struck by gunfire.”
The man was pronounced dead in the hospital, police said.
Assistant Chief David Lazar said in a press conference Friday morning that he believed the man was a security guard at the nearby Dior store, Mission Local reported.
An Allied Universal guard who works in the area said he witnessed the collision between the cyclist and suspect. He said he recognized the suspect as a man who typically works the Thursday night shift at the Dior store. Allied Universal did not respond to a request for comment; it is not clear if the suspect worked for Allied or another security company.
The witness said the cyclist collided with the guard’s black SUV as he tried to parallel park at 170 Grant Ave. The guard then exited the vehicle and tried to make a citizen’s arrest, asking for “license and registration,” the witness added.
The cyclist fled, and the guard pursued him in his SUV, he said.
Another witness who works in the area but did not want to be named due to fears of retribution by his employer said the suspect worked security at the Dior store.
That witness said after the suspect pursued a food-delivery worker on an e-bike heading eastbound down Post Street, he then returned to the Dior store and changed out his car license plates with other plates he had in the trunk.
A Dior spokesperson told The Standard by phone that the suspect is “not employed by Dior.” The spokesperson declined to elaborate when asked if the man was a third-party contractor.
In the press conference, Lazar added that the two pedestrians the man allegedly struck were 18-year-old and 17-year-old females leaving a Chipotle, and that the suspect tried unsuccessfully to load the cyclist’s electric bike in his car after the collision.
Officers said they weren’t able to locate the cyclist.
The SFPD did not respond to The Standard’s inquiries and said details of the case will be provided at a town hall meeting the department will organize within 10 days.
Police on Friday morning cordoned off the block of Grant Avenue where the shooting occurred. Officers there said they expected it to reopen around 8:45 a.m.