10 S.F. police slayings awaiting D.A. action

The San Francisco district attorney’s office must still decide whether any charges are warranted against city police officers in the following 10 fatal shootings, which go back to September 2014.

Nicholas McWherter

McWherter, 26, an armed man suffering from an apparent mental crisis, was killed after he shot and seriously wounded Officer Kevin Downs in the Sunset District on Oct. 14, 2016.

Jessica Williams

Williams, 29, an unarmed homeless woman, was shot in an allegedly stolen car by Sgt. Justin Erb in the Bayview on May 19, 2016. Her death prompted the resignation of Chief Greg Suhr, and raised questions about the Police Department policy that allowed officers to fire at moving vehicles.

Luis Gongora

A 45-year-old homeless man allegedly armed with a knife, Gongora was shot by Sgt. Nate Steger and Officer Michael Mellone near a tent encampment where he lived in the Mission District on April 7, 2016. Amid a push for officers to use more de-escalation tactics, video of the shooting showed that it unfolded in 30 seconds, with officers firing beanbags at Gongora before shooting him when he allegedly charged.

Mario Woods

Woods, 26, a stabbing suspect allegedly armed with a knife, was shot by Officers Winson Seto, Antonio Santos, Charles August, Nicholas Cuevas and Scott Phillips in the Bayview on Dec. 2, 2015. Officers first fired beanbags at Woods, who refused to obey commands. Video showed he was shuffling slowly along a wall and not appearing to directly threaten officers when he was shot.

Javier Lopez Garcia

Garcia, 25, was apparently suicidal when he was killed Nov. 11, 2015, after he ascended to the sixth floor of a construction site near St. Luke’s Hospital in the Mission and fired a gun. He allegedly said at the scene, “Today will be the day that I die.”

Herbert Benitez

Benitez, 27, had been in the Civic Center area behaving erratically and allegedly tried to take a police sergeant’s gun out of his holster when another sergeant shot him Oct. 15, 2015.

Alice Brown

A 24-year-old woman who struggled with drug addiction, Brown was shot by Sgt. Thomas Maguire and Officer Michael Tursi on March 17, 2015, after she allegedly sped away from a gas station at Van Ness Avenue and Pine Street, crashing into vehicles and a building and driving down a one-way street in the wrong direction.

Matthew Hoffman

Hoffman, 32, allegedly pulled a replica gun from his waistband, prompting two sergeants to shoot him outside Mission Station on Jan. 4, 2015. Investigators searching his phone reported finding notes about plans to force officers to kill him in a “suicide by cop” situation.

O’Shaine Evans

Evans, 26, was shot by Officer David Goff on Oct. 7, 2014. Police said he was the driver for two passengers who had stolen a laptop out of a car near AT&T Park, and had a gun in his lap when Goff approached him. Goff said Evans pointed the gun at him, forcing him to shoot. Evans’ family has disputed the account.

Giovany Contreras Sandoval

Sandoval, 34, a suspect in a carjacking, was shot after leading officers on a three-county chase, flipping a sport utility vehicle in the Financial District and allegedly pointing a pistol at officers on Sept. 25, 2014.