SUV driver, 29, repeatedly opened fire, they say
By Charlie Goodyear and Jaxon Van Derbeken, San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco police shot and killed a 29-year-old disabled man Wednesday night who they say repeatedly fired on officers in a gun battle that witnesses said ended violently as the man attempted to surrender.
The man -- identified by family members as Cammerin Boyd, 29, of Oakland -- was shot in a Western Addition parking lot at Eddy and Buchanan streets, where a crowd of angry people began shouting at police.
While witnesses claimed police fired for no reason, authorities said the man had repeatedly opened fire on officers during a car chase just before the shooting. Police said they found a weapon near Boyd.
Emotions ran high at the scene as the crowd grew to about 100 people, some of whom taunted officers while investigators attempted to collect evidence and control the crime scene. Boyd’s mother, Marylon Boyd of Oakland, arrived at the scene and accused officers of shooting her disabled son for no reason. She said her son had prosthetics for both legs after both his legs were amputated below the knees.
The city’s police force has been on edge since Officer Isaac Espinoza was killed by a man wielding an AK-47 on April 10.
The confrontation began at 8:05 p.m. Wednesday when a woman flagged down a police patrol car at Eddy and Laguna streets, saying there was a man with a gun driving a black SUV. Officers spotted the SUV, which was rented from a Hertz car rental office in South San Francisco.
Police say that when they started to pursue the SUV, the driver repeatedly opened fire. Police said they were processing one scene at Scott and Turk streets, where gunfire was exchanged during the 15-minute chase, which involved officers from the Park and Northern police stations.
After pursing the suspect on Haight, Scott, Divisadero, Fell and Oak streets, police chased him to the area where the pursuit had started. The man drove into the parking lot of Plaza East Apartments at Eddy and Buchanan streets, where he got out of the SUV.
Police said the suspect may have had difficulty getting out of the vehicle, either because of his disability or because of wounds he may have suffered during the gun battle. They confirmed that officers fired more shots at the location, and the man died at the scene.
Several witnesses said that police appeared to have fired for no reason and that the man did not appear to be armed when he emerged from the SUV.
“He put his hands up, and police killed him,” said Chanel Hawkins, a resident of the complex who said several children witnessed police fire eight or more rounds during the confrontation.
Another woman who said she saw what happened said the man denied being armed. “He said, ‘I ain’t got no gun.’ They were still shooting him. He didn’t have any weapons in his hand, and they were still shooting him.”
Marylon Boyd identified her son’s body at the scene.
“The police have killed my son,” Marylon Boyd told reporters at the scene.
She said residents told her that her son begged officers not to open fire.
“I want them held accountable,” she said.
Boyd, who identified herself as a lawyer with offices in the East Bay, said Mayor Gavin Newsom should have come to the scene. Marylon Boyd had represented her son in a series of civil lawsuits against state prison officials, Alameda County and the Oakland police, according to public records.
Maria Oropeza, spokeswoman for the police department, confirmed that the victim was 29 and had “some form of disability” and that officers recovered two prosthetic legs at the scene.