Officer shoots man during North Beach foot chase

A San Francisco police officer shot and critically wounded a man early Saturday during a foot pursuit in North Beach, officials said.

The man, who was not identified, was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was being treated for lifethreatening injuries, a police spokesman said.

A brief statement released by the department said the shooting happened just after 12:15 a.m. on the 1300 block of Grant Avenue, between Vallejo and Green streets.

“Two uniformed SFPD officers initiated a foot pursuit of a suspect on the 1300 block of Grant Avenue,” the statement said. “During that pursuit, an officer-involved shooting occurred and the suspect, an adult male, was struck by gunfire.”

Officials said the officers “rendered aid and requested medical assistance,” and recovered a gun from the scene. The officers were uninjured.

The police statement did not provide further details on what prompted the chase, what happened during the encounter, or why the officer fired upon the man.

Giovanni Berber, a San Francisco resident who said he saw the chase, said he walked out of the Tope Lounge nightclub and “saw a commotion coming up from Vallejo” Street. Berber said he saw a man running and a “cop running after him, and then I heard gunshots.” He said he heard at least two shots, and then saw the man on the ground, not moving.

“Someone started yelling, ‘You shot him in the back,’ ” he said.

“Which is true. The guy had his back to the cop,” Berber said. “He was fleeing, and the way he fell was like stomach first.”

Videos and photos on social media showed the aftermath of the shooting, as police closed off Grant Avenue and onlookers gathered.

Under city protocol, police homicide inspectors will investigate the shooting, along with the San Francisco district attorney’s office, the police internal affairs division and the civilian Department of Police Accountability.

Police plan to hold a town hall meeting on the shooting within 10 days.

Demian Bulwa and Sophie Haigney are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: dbulwa@sfchronicle.com, sophie. haigney@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @demianbulwa, @SophieHaigney