San Francisco gunman stole weapon before shooting near hospital, police say
A gunman who opened fire after scaling a building under construction next to a hospital in downtown San Francisco had stolen one of his weapons from a sports equipment store in nearby San Bruno, police said.
The gunman was identified Thursday as Javier Lopez Garcia, 25, of San Jose, the San Francisco medical examiner said. He was killed Wednesday by police.
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FOR THE RECORD: A previous version of this article said that the gunman had stolen both of his weapons from Big 5. He was armed with a handgun when he stole a shotgun from the store.
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Garcia sparked panic that afternoon in the Mission District, where, carrying a shotgun, a handgun and a bag of ammunition, he climbed to the top of a construction elevator and began shooting, San Francisco police said.
Officers rushed to the scene and saw Garcia, dressed in white coveralls, aiming the shotgun at St. Lukes Hospital across the street, then down at them, police Chief Greg Suhr said. Three officers fired at Garcia, he said.
It wasn’t clear whether Garcia was targeting anyone anyone at the hospital, Suhr said, and the building did not appear to have been hit.
“We have no idea why he did what he did,” Suhr told reporters Wednesday.
During the investigation into the shooting, San Francisco police said, they learned that Garcia had been involved in a robbery earlier in the day, when he brandished a pistol at a Big 5 store in San Bruno. He took a shotgun and ammunition from the store, police said.
After Garcia was spotted near the hospital, the facility was placed on lockdown, according to KNTV Channel 11.
Seamus James, a 33-year-old Web developer who works in an office across the street from the hospital, told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday that his co-workers heard what sounded like several gunshots around 4:30 p.m.
They tuned into a police scanner and heard reports of an active shooter.
James and several of his colleagues went to the roof of the office building, where they saw at least three dozen police officers swarming a construction site adjacent to the hospital. James said he saw police throw at least two flash-bang grenades in the man’s direction.
The entire ordeal lasted about 45 minutes, James said.
Jenna Bilotta said on Twitter that she was locked inside a doctor’s office because of the shooting in the area. The nurses, she said, warned her and others to stay away from the windows.
“They’re not letting anyone leave,” she said.
Tim Brennan said that he saw an officer with a machine gun running in front of his home.
“There’s someone with a gun on top of St Luke’s Hospital,” he tweeted.
Philipp Reichardt said on Twitter that he heard what he thought were gunshots.
“Gun man on roof of St Luke’s,” he said. “We’re stuck in the building and can hear the gun shots. Scary to be so close to a shooting.”
Times staff writers Matt Hamilton and Veronica Rocha contributed to this report.
For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna and @JamesQueallyLAT on Twitter.
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