San Francisco police have identified the police officers who shot a man in the Mission District last week.
Officers Craig Tiffe and Eric Reboli shot and killed a man identified by community members and friends as Amilcar Perez-Lopez, a 21-year-old Guatemalan, on the night of Thursday Feb. 26, according to police.
According to police, the night of the shooting, a 911 call came in at 9:44 p.m. and the reporting party told a 911 dispatcher that a male was running with a knife, heading down Folsom Street toward 25th Street. The witness told the dispatcher that the person was chasing after another male.
Police said two plainclothes officers arrived on scene at 9:46 p.m., at which point they allegedly saw a man armed with a knife.
The two officers drew their firearms and ordered the suspect to drop the knife. The officers, who police said had their department issued stars visible on their clothes, fired at the suspect.
At 9:47 p.m. the reporting party told the dispatcher that consecutive shots were heard at the scene.
Police said the officers fired at Perez-Lopez a total of six times and then requested an ambulance at 9:48 p.m., however Perez-Lopez was pronounced dead at the scene.
Community members have disputed the police version of events and rejected a police claim that Perez-Lopez was trying to steal a bicycle at the time of the shooting.
Police have said the two officers were placed on paid administrative leave during an investigation by the San Francisco Police Department’s homicide detail, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and San Francisco Police Department Internal Affairs.
Sara Gaiser, Bay City News