A stabbing suspect fatally shot by San Francisco police in the city's Bayview District on Wednesday afternoon has been identified by the medical examiner's office as 26-year-old Mario Woods.
Woods, a San Francisco resident, was killed following an incident that began at 3:49 p.m. with a report of a stabbing victim dropped off at San Francisco General Hospital, according to police.
The victim, who was stabbed in the shoulder and is expected to survive, said he was stabbed in the 6600 block of Third Street and gave authorities a description of the suspect, police said.
Officers responded to the scene and were flagged down by a witness who also gave a description of the suspect. At 4:34 p.m., an officer spotted someone who matched the suspect description and was armed with a knife, according to police.
Several officers responded and gave numerous orders for the suspect to drop the knife. When he refused, the officers used a less-lethal firearm known as a bean bag gun to try to subdue him but it had no apparent effect, so they tried to use pepper spray on him as well, police said.
When that also failed to subdue him, officers tried to use a higher-powered bean bag weapon, which caused the suspect to drop to one knee, but did not cause him to drop the knife, police said.
He then tried to walk onto Keith Street toward Fitzgerald Avenue and an officer moved to a position on the sidewalk to stop him from fleeing, according to police.
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Police said the suspect moved toward that officer while still armed with the knife, prompting officers to fire their handguns at him.
The suspect, later identified as Woods, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Records show Woods has prior convictions. Public defender Jeff Adachi says the past is not relevant, that the key is the danger posed at the time.
"There is no indication he is lunging at the officers and no indication he is trying to hurt or kill anyone," Adachi said, "so why are the officers then taking their guns out and shooting him?"
A video of the shooting was posted to Instagram, apparently from a bystander aboard a San Francisco Municipal Railway vehicle, and has since gone viral on social media.
The video appears to show a man limping on the sidewalk and surrounded by officers. Someone off-screen urges the man to "just drop it," then seconds later a number of shots ring out.
Police said they have since viewed the cellphone video and will continue to search the area for more video evidence. Anyone who may have captured video of the incident is encouraged to call San Francisco police homicide investigators at (415) 553-1145.
The officer-involved shooting is being investigated by the homicide division, the department's internal affairs division, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, the medical examiner's office and the city's Office of Citizen Complaints.
The medical examiner's office said an autopsy is being conducted to document the official cause of Woods' death.
NBC Bay Area's Christie Smith contributed to this report.
