San Francisco police Chief Bill Scott on Monday said he was "surprised and quite frankly disappointed" by a grand jury's felony indictment of an officer in connection with a 2019 officer-involved shooting.
A grand jury on Friday indicted Officer Christopher Flores along with Jamaica Hampton in connection with a Dec. 7, 2019, officer-involved shooting.
In the shooting, Flores fired his weapon at Hampton while on-duty and responding to a burglary report in the city's Mission District. Hampton, allegedly armed with a glass bottle, was critically injured but survived the shooting.
In a statement, Scott defended Flores' actions, saying that because Hampton posed an immediate threat to Flores, Flores was justified under the Police Department's Use of Force Policy.
“Audio and video evidence shows that the suspect (Hampton) initiated a violent, unprovoked attack on the officers -- repeatedly striking Officer Flores in the head with a thick glass bottle, which resulted in serious injuries," he said. "While I find today's indictment surprising and troubling based on the circumstances, I have faith in our judicial system and confidence that justice will ultimately be done in this case."
According to Boudin, his office has asked for a small bail amount in each case and is not seeking pretrial detention.
Additionally, Boudin is asking the two to voluntarily surrender. Once they've surrendered, Boudin said he'd provide more information.
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The grand jury indictment indicates there's probable cause to believe each is responsible for offenses in the case.
The indictment against Flores becomes the second case against a San Francisco police officer involved in a shooting. Just two weeks ago, Boudin announced his office filed manslaughter charges against former police Officer Christopher Samayoa, who fatally shot unarmed Keita O'Neil, 42, in the city's Bayview District in 2017.
