New video shows armed man killed by police at San Francisco airport appearing to ask officers to shoot him
Police chief apologises as fatal encounter remains subject of investigations
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San Francisco police have released new video from a shooting at the International Terminal of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) earlier this month.
The footage shows the suspect and officers who shot and killed a “suspicious individual” on 20 January, not far from the BART station near the International Terminal at San Francisco Airport.
The man, who was recently named as 37-year-old Nelson Waynezhi Szeto, was described by police as being Asian-American and can be seen in both body camera and surveillance footage released by the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) on Monday.
The police department said the man was concealing a fake or replica airsoft-style pistol – after initial reports suggested he was armed during the fatal encounter – although both items were viewable in the footage.
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He had also apparently refused to comply with the demands of several officers from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department who though he was armed, as per the videos.
Szeto was heard saying that the “hospital cannot help him,” and appeared to instruct the officers to shoot him at one point during the fatal encounter, and as SFFIST reported, he also pointed to his fake rifle and said “this one’s loaded”.
The footage ends with Szeto on the floor after being hit with a foam baton and when attempting to get up, when he appeared to have been shot by one of the officers.
San Francisco’s police chief Bill Scott said it remains to be seen if the officer’s actions were disproportionate and apologised to the family of the 37-year-old, who was of no fixed address.
“Without reaching a conclusion as to the appropriateness of the use of force, I can say on behalf of myself and the entire department that we express our sincere condolences to Mr Szeto, his family, his friends and loved ones, for the loss of life they’ve suffered,” said Mr Scott.
According to CBS San Francisco, many members of the public who called into the press briefing on Monday expressed shock and concern about the use of lethal force against Szeto.
“The officers could have gotten a mental health professional on the phone, either on Nelson’s phone having them call, contact him directly or on an officer’s phone,” said a caller and friend. “That would have gotten one of the guns out of his hand, if he had complied with that”
Others also voiced supported for the officers who were called to the terminal and said: “I also want to show my displeasure with the community, for acting like hindsight is 20/20 and that they know how they would act”.
A bystander who was was struck by a ricocheting bullet and who was treated by San Francisco Fire Department emergency medical personnel on-scene and was treated in a hospital.
The encounter remains under investigation.