SAN FRANCISCO—Officers with the San Francisco Police Department have arrested a suspect, Brandon Paillett, 39, who was armed and accosting children and parents outside of a local elementary school. The SFPD reported on its Facebook page on September 7 that Paillett has a prolific violent history. A separate witness to the incident confirmed to officers that the suspect attempted to gain entry to the school through a side entrance several times.
On August 31, at approximately 4:11 p.m., officers from Park District Station responded to what a 911 caller described as a mentally disturbed and potentially armed adult male making threatening gestures and incoherent statements to parents who were picking up their children from an elementary school at Grove and Cole Streets.
Arriving on scene, officers found the suspect, a resident of San Francisco and asked if he was armed. Despite stating, “I have no weapons,” he evaded being searched and sought to gain control of a loaded revolver that had fallen from his jacket pocket after throwing his backpack at responding officers. One officer used force in the encounter, drawing and pointing his department-issued handgun before officers were able to safely take Paillett into custody and secure the loaded Smith and Wesson .38 Special weapon in his possession.
In July 2019, he was featured in a KTVU-TV Fox-2 news segment after unlawfully entering a disabled woman’s home just days after his release from jail for prior offenses. That offense took place in SFPD’s Park Police District.
For the August 31 incident, officers booked Paillett into San Francisco County Jail a short time later for the following offenses:
- Possession of a firearm on school grounds, 626.9(😎 PC (felony);
- Possession of a firearm by a felon, 29800(A)(1) PC (felony);
- Possession of ammunition by a felon, 30305(A)(1) PC (felony);
- Carrying loaded firearm by a prohibited person, 25850(A) PC (felony); and
- Post-Release Community Supervision probation violation 3455(A) PC (felony).
He was arrested in December 2019 for an aggravated assault in the Tenderloin District. He was on felony probation for stalking and now has a probation violation hold in place.
The SFPD is still investigating the case. Anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD Tip Line at (415) 575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD.
