Lee Heidhues 6.30.2023
I watched fascinated, appalled and, ultimately, participated in the San Francisco Police Department public review of the fatal shooting in the outer Richmond District the morning of June 22.
https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/news/sfpd-concludes-virtual-town-hall-june-22nd-officer-involved
Listening to most of the public comments repulsed me. Most callers spent their two minutes praising the SFPD. Insisted the officer behaved correctly. Decried the state of crime in San Francisco. Criticized the district Supervisor.
After I made my comments which were that the officer acted “precipitously” I was called a “Monday morning quarterback” and told by another caller I “should leave” San Francisco.
An SFPD officer shot and killed 37 year old Marc Child who had just murdered his 76 year old mother and a family dog.
The issue for me in watching the disturbing body cam footage was whether or not it was necessary to resort to fatal action within two minutes of arriving at the crime scene.
Equally disturbing was the behavior of the officer prior to the shooting. He yelled and screamed at an obviously mentally distraught man. His action did nothing to defuse a horrific situation.
The trained officer’s ultimate action, within two minutes of arriving at the crime scene, is questionable at best.
Dead men don’t talk. We will never know what was going on in the mind of Marc Child as he took his final breaths in the doorway of his home.
The SFPD officer was a distance away from Marc Child who had a 3 1/2″ knife in his hand.
It is obvious that SFPD shot Marc Child from a distance since the shell casings were found on the curbside a distance from the front door of the house.
https://www.ktvu.com/news/san-francisco-man-fatally-shot-by-police-after-allegedly-killing-mom-dog
Lee's Perspective 