Peninsula cops fatally shoot man carrying replica gun

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO – Officers shot and killed a man after he reportedly aimed a replica firearm at them Wednesday in South San Francisco, according to authorities.

The shooting happened around 7 p.m., when officers were called to the 300 block of Oyster Point Boulevard for a report of a man who was yelling obscenities and trying to force his way into a public restroom with a metal object, the South San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.

Officers arrived to find the man still breaking into the bathroom. He refused to identify himself and ran away with what appeared to be a gun in his hand, police said.

Police said officers pursued the man and tried to subdue him using less-lethal force, but it was not effective.

“The suspect then pointed the firearm at officers,” police said. “In response to the imminent threat, two officers from the South San Francisco Police Department and one officer from the San Bruno Police Department discharged their service weapons.”

The man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. He was not publicly identified.

An investigation determined the gun in the man’s possession was a replica, police said.

The California Department of Justice is investigating the shooting. The officers are on paid administrative leave.

The fatal encounter comes just weeks after South San Francisco officers shot and killed 60-year-old Brian Montana, a former member of Bay Area death metal band Possessed.

Police said officers were initially called to the 300 block of Arroyo Circle on April 28 for a report of a person – later revealed to be Montana – brandishing a firearm at a neighbor. When officers arrived at the scene, Montana reportedly fired shots into an occupied home and got into a gunfight with the officers before he was shot and killed.

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