Update: 5:00 pm
KQED's Mina Kim attended a press conference this afternoon by SFPD command staff, who said the department had evidence the suspect had shot at police before being fired upon. Here's a summary of what police said:
Who is Kenneth Harding?
Police say the suspect's full name is Kenneth Wade Harding Jr. He is from Seattle and was on parole after serving 22 months in Washington state prison for attempting to prostitute a 14-year-old. Police say he was in violation of his parole by being in California. He was also a person of interest in a homicide last Wednesday, in Washington, in which a 19-year-old, pregnant woman was killed. Police say they don’t know why Harding was in San Francisco.
Who shot first?
Police say Harding fired at officers before the officers returned fire. Lieutenant Hector Sainez, Commanding Officer for SFPD’s homicide detail said, "We have witnesses who say they did see flash, the muzzle flash the suspect fired backwards at the officers as he was running."
In addition to eyewitness testimony, police say they have GPS technology that pinpointed where there was gunfire, as well as recorded audio.
Commander Mikail Ali said, "The timeline on these 10 shots that were registered by the system is about six seconds. There is a time of 1.9 seconds between the first shot and the second shot. It is that time period that we believe that the first shot was fired by the suspect, and then the officers were in a position to identify and respond accordingly to being fired upon.
Has Harding’s gun been recovered?
Police say they have a gun, but have not yet confirmed if it’s the gun Harding used to fire at officers. They are waiting for results of ballistics, DNA, and other tests.
Who were the police officers involved in the shooting?
One of the officers was a senior station officer in the Bayview who walks the Third Street beat regularly. The other has 3+ years of law-enforcement experience. Both officers are now on paid administrative leave.
Is Police Chief Greg Suhr concerned about the community reaction to this shooting?
Suhr reminded reporters that he was a police captain in Bayview and understands the community there. This is what he said he wanted residents to know: