Alleged Cop-Shooter In Custody After Stern Grove Manhunt [Updated]

Alleged Cop-Shooter In Custody After Stern Grove Manhunt [Updated]Image: Google
Walter Thompson
Published on October 15, 2016

SFPD launched a manhunt for a suspect wanted in a Friday evening shooting that critically injured a police officer in the Sunset District. According to scanners, teams of officers are creating a perimeter around Stern Grove and are actively sweeping the area. 

Police have set up a command post at 1515 Sloat to manage operations; a tactical team is using 19th & Sloat for its command post. Officers in plainclothes have been ordered to wear jackets or stickers identifying themselves as police; K9 units and uniformed officers have also joined the search.

Police reportedly warned a small group discovered inside Stern Grove to shelter in place as the search progressed.  Police dispatched a team to a nearby address after the resident reported that his backyard motion lights were activated, but the lead did not bear fruit.

As of 8:55pm, police were seeking to block vehicular traffic at 19th Avenue & Sloat and eastbound on Sloat from Sunset Blvd. At 9:02, an officer announced over the radio that the department was emailing a suspect description to every officer and that the suspect "may have been pepper-sprayed."

At 9:03pm, police reported sighting the suspect at Ocean and Eucalyptus and said they would "try to make contact." California Highway Patrol officers in a helicopter unit are assisting with the search, but fog is reducing visibility.

We've contacted SFPD's media relations office for more information and will continue to update this story as new information becomes available.

[Update: 9:22 pm] Officers reported shots fired at 9:17pm near 28th & Vicente; a suspect with a gun in his hand was reported injured. After police issued commands to drop the weapon, tactical teams have surrounded the area.

[Update: 9:26pm] An SFPD officer has called for an ambulance near 28th & Vicente.

[Update: 9:29pm] Flashbangs, explosive devices used to disorient a suspect with loud noise and blinding light, have been deployed: police report that the suspect is not complying with police orders to stop moving.

[Update: 9:41pm] Police reported that the suspect was not complying and continued to reach for a firearm "on his chest." Shortly after police were advised that a tactical plan would be executed, the suspect was taken into custody and his weapon was secured.

[Update: 9:50pm] Police are maintaining the perimeter while they verify that the person in custody is wanted in the shooting of a police officer. Investigators are asking police involved in the inciting incident to make themselves available for an ID. 

Thanks very much to tipsters Daina C, and former Hoodline editor Nuala Sawyer.