The San Francisco Police Department confirmed Thursday that the man who officers shot and killed in the Bayview District Thursday was armed with a gun.
A video posted to social media appeared to show the moments before police shot and killed a man, who was later identified as 41-year-old Ryant Bluford of San Francisco.
In the video, Bluford can be seen walking around Fairfax Avenue and Catalina Street, while officers at a distance had their guns drawn. Then, he appears to pull something out and point it at the officers, then police shoot him.
Bluford later died of his injuries.
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“There’s a rumor going on out there that this man was unarmed," San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said, then stating clearly for the record: "[Bluford] was armed.”
“But let me pause for a second and say this as well, somebody lost their lives and that is a very tragic situation. I don’t care how you slice it,” Scott said.
Scott was speaking to the department’s newest academy class on Thursday, when he took questions about the shooting. Scott said that he wanted to set the record straight and added that police recovered a gun at the scene.
“Yes, he was armed. There’s a number of videos out there, the gun was recovered,” he said.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed was also speaking to the class, she said that she wants to support the police and hold them accountable.
“I think that, you know, no one comes to work wanting to take someone’s life -- I believe, in this department and in this city,” Breed said.
As multiple departments continue investigating the shooting, police are preparing for a town hall with the community, as is the procedure for officer-involved shootings. Chief Scott expects that town hall to be set for the latter half of next week.
Iose (Peejay) Iulio, a Bayview community member who sometimes saw Bluford at community events, said Bluftord "often was by himself and never started any trouble."
Iulio said it is still unclear to community members how an arrest for someone else led to Bluford being shot and killed.
