The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office released new body cam video showing an officer shooting Sean Moore on Jan. 6, Moore who survived and is reportedly in stable condition, is obviously agitated throughout his interactions with officers Kenneth Cha and Colin Patino. He’s been diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to his family and the public defender’s office. Two officers responded to a neighbor’s complaint in the middle of the night. Moore, 42, was agitated and verbally aggressive while officers asked him in a calm manner to come down from the top of a staircase. Finally, one officer fired pepper spray at Moore. He also inadvertently sprayed his partner, as he fell down the stairs. Moore went back inside the house while the officers continued to tell him to come outside. After a while, he did. Officers continued to yell for Moore to get down. He came closer, picking up some papers he dropped on the stairs. Then a scuffle ensued. One officer had his baton raised.
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The body camera angle distorts the video. The other officer fired off two shots. Public Defender Jeff Adachi believes the officers should have used crisis intervention techniques. “Mr. Moore did not have to be shot and the officers, had they properly used deescalation techniques, would have gone home.” Interim Police Chief Toney Chaplin sees the video differently, saying the officers were assaulted, and used great restraint. “You saw them back down the stairs a couple times,” he said. “One officer, even put his hand up and even backed the other officer up at one point a little bit, to give him a little bit more time.” Chaplin released photos of the two officers and their injuries suffered after the scuffle. Moore is at the county jail, charged with, among other counts, assault on police officers.
