2 Men Killed, Officers Wounded in Shoot-Out at San Francisco Building

A man shot and killed a lawyer Tuesday in a downtown office building and wounded two police officers, who then returned fire and killed the gunman, police said.

“He was confronted by officers, who told him to drop the weapon. He returned fire--he elected to do so for some unknown reason--and the officers had no recourse but to return the fire,” Police Chief Frank Jordan said.

The shootings occurred on the third and sixth floors of the James Flood Building on Market Street about 1 p.m., police said.

“We don’t know the motive at this time,” said Deputy Police Chief Frank Reed.

Attorney Garfield Steward, 75, of San Francisco, was fatally shot on the sixth floor. The others, all shot on the third floor, were taken to Mission Emergency Hospital, where the unidentified gunman died shortly before 2 p.m., Jordan said. Officer Jim Jean was struck in the face by bullet fragments and was expected to be released by today. Acting Lt. John Madden was shot in the left knee and will need surgery, police said.

Kiersta Burke, who teaches Russian emigres at Jewish Vocational Services on the sixth floor, said she and her students were frightened by the gunfire and locked and then barricaded the door of their office.

“We were very afraid that someone would break in and shoot us. We were thinking about climbing down the fire escape, but most of my students are elderly so I ruled that out,” Burke said.