SAN FRANCISCO—A town hall meeting was held on Thursday, January 12 to discuss the recent altercation between the San Francisco Police Department and Sean Moore, 40 who, according to his family suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The shooting is the first officer-involved shooting of 2017.
On January 6 at 4:15 a.m., SFPD officers responded to a neighbor’s complaint against Moore who was allegedly kicking the wall on the inside of his apartment on Capitol Avenue, while violating a restraining order filed by the neighbor.
According to the SFPD, Moore who is described as a larger man, was angry and combative behind a locked and gated entrance to his apartment when police arrived to discuss the restraining order. Moore reached for the restraining order paperwork in police hands before being pepper sprayed, causing Moore to allegedly kick one of the officers in the face. The suspect retreated to his apartment only to come back to throw the paperwork onto nearby stairs.
He was struck by a baton before officers attempted to arrest Moore. He reportedly punched one of the officers while Officer Cha shot him twice; once in the stomach and once in the groin. Moore returned to his apartment and called 911. An hour later a tactical team arrived to negotiate with the suspect to surrender. His apartment door was broke down and he was arrested. he was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
His mother, Cleo Moore who is a nurse at SF General Hospital, where Moore is being treated, states that he suffered injuries to his liver and colon. She criticized the SFPD at the town hall meeting stating, “If they couldn’t handle the situation, back off, call Crisis Intervention and have them come out and help you. He’s not an animal. He’s a person with a mental condition.”
Present at Thursday’s town hall meeting was Betty Mackey of The Anti Police-Terror Project.
“How is it that your officer struck someone on the steps of their own house and you expect them not to defend themselves: And if your officers felt so threatened by this man in front of his own home with a record of mental health issues, why didn’t they call for back up instead of pulling out their weapon and discharging it?,” Mackey asked.
Interim SFPD Police Chief Tony Chaplin, responded: “Maybe you missed the part where one of the officers was kicked in the face.” Captain Greg McEachern stated that Moore reportedly yelled verbal profanities at the responding police and that he did not answer questions asked of him.
Mackey does not believe that Moore kicked one of the officers in the face stating, “I need to see the video, I don’t believe you.” The video Mackey refers to is the body cam footage that has not been confirmed as to whether or not it will be released to the public.
Officer Cha has been placed on an administrative leave, as officials conduct their investigation into the shooting.
