By Daniel Montes, BAY CITY NEWS SERVICE
A man critically injured in an officer-involved shooting Saturday morning in San Francisco’s Mission District remains hospitalized, police said Wednesday.
He’s been identified by police as 24-year-old Jamaica Hampton.
Officers initially encountered Hampton after responding to 23rd and Capp streets around 8:35 a.m. to investigate a report of a hot prowl burglary, police said.
The officer-involved shooting happened after Hampton allegedly assaulted officers with a weapon.
In addition to Hampton, an officer was also injured during the altercation. The officer has since been released after being treated for the injuries, which are not considered life-threatening.
Police arrested Hampton on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, battery on an officer, battery resulting in serious injury and obstructing an officer.
However, the District Attorney’s Office has yet to yet to formally charge Hampton and the case remains under investigation, police said.
Because the call led to an officer-involved
shooting, police said they’ll release more information as it becomes available and are planning on holding a town hall meeting on the matter within 10 days of the shooting.
On Tuesday evening, Mission District community members held a rally outside the Mission Police Station to denounce the officer-involved shooting.
According to the group Justice for Luis Gongora Pat, a man previously shot and killed by San Francisco police, officers escalated the situation with Hampton, which ultimately led to the shooting.
“It appears that the victim was unarmed, apparently homeless, and was being harassed by police officers to move off the street. He acted out and punched an officer in the face. An officer responded with murderous intent by shooting him at least eight times, while the man was on the ground,” Adriana Camarena, a community advocate with Justice for Luis Gongora Pat, said in a statement Tuesday.
“While we await more facts, this incident seems all too familiar. We’ve seen too many cases of police exacerbating situations, and then escalating to use lethal force. Was there no other way to handle this tragic situation?” said Father Richard Leslie Smith, an organizer with the group Justice for Amilcar Perez Lopez. “Shoot- ing this man was not necessary.”