San Francisco DA's Office: No Charges Filed In Two Officer-Involved Shootings
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The San Francisco District Attorney's Office on Thursday declined to file charges against officers involved in two separate police shootings that happened earlier this year.
The more recent of the two officer-involved shootings occurred on October 11th.
Body camera video shows the moments officers confronted carjacking suspect Cesar Antonio Vargas and opened fire.
The shooting happened in the area of Market and Gough streets. Police said several witnesses called 911 to report a carjacking at knifepoint.
Police said Vargas attempted to enter several vehicles in the area. At one point, they said he jumped on a woman's car and pulled her out of the vehicle.
The DA's office said two officers fatally shot Vargas as he charged towards them.
The District Attorney's Office's Independent Investigation Bureau unit responded to the scene and conducted a thorough investigation before determining that evidence in the incident did not support bringing criminal charges against any of the officers involved.
"This was a tragedy, and we express condolences to Mr. Vargas's family for their loss," said Lateef Gray, the head of the District Attorney's Independent Investigation Bureau Unit. "Although we recognize that this announcement may bring them pain, we hope that by reporting the results of our investigation quickly and assuring them of the seriousness with which we conducted our investigation, we can bring some closure and provide them space to grieve."
The second shooting happened after a 15-hour standoff in the Tenderloin on April 21st.
Police said that incident began when the suspect, identified as Thomas O'Bannon, attacked a man with a piece of wood.
O'Bannon ran into the Pierre Hotel and locked himself inside the clerk's office.
Police said they tried to get him to peacefully surrender for 15 hours prior to a physical confrontation with an officer. Released bodycam video showed an officer tripping and falling after investigators said O'Bannon ran after him with a screwdriver in hand.
The officer fired three shots but missed.
"My office carefully reviews the specific facts in each case involving officer use-of-force so we can determine when charges are warranted as well as when officers acting under stressful situations behaved lawfully. In these two incidents the evidence showed that the officers' use of force was lawful self-defense," said San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
Thursday's announcement comes after Boudin recently decided to prosecute officers involved in two other police shootings.
In November, is office filed homicide charges against an on-duty officer for the first time in San Francisco history. Officer Chris Samayoa is now facing charges for the death of Keita O'Neil in 2017.
Earlier this week, a grand jury returned indictments for felony charges against Officer Christopher Flores and suspect Jamaica Hampton for a 2019 shooting in the Mission District.
Those cases are still pending.
