[youtube=http:\/\/youtu.be\/Xx24DAkryNQ]<\/p>\n
Officers with the San Francisco Police Department in Northern California shot a man believed to have a knife this morning, but preliminary reports suggest that the victim was in handcuffs while the authorities opened fire.<\/span><\/p>\n Police officers with the SFPD allegedly opened fire on a man armed with a knife at around 10:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday after responding to reports that someone had been stabbed near the city\u2019s Pier 17.<\/span><\/p>\n The Bay City News Service reported minutes later that there was an \u201cofficer-involved\u201d shooting but did provide any other details. The San Francisco Chronicle reported at 11:30 a.m. local time that the man was shot by police after he refused to drop a knife that they believe was used in a stabbing earlier that morning. Fire Department Capt. Jeanne Seyler confirms to the paper that the victim was being transported for life threatening wounds, but did not provide any more details.<\/span><\/p>\n A video uploaded to YouTube less than 30 minutes after that report includes a testimony from an eyewitness who alleges that the police shot the suspect after placing him in handcuffs.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo what happened here?\u201d the cameraman asks an unidentified witness.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe police shot somebody. In the chest, twice,\u201d he responds. \u201cThey said that the man had a gun or something but he didn\u2019t. He was just a civilian.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat was he doing?\u201d the videographer asks.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNothing. They had him in cuffs. And they shot him. Twice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey shot him in cuffs?\u201d he asks in bewilderment.<\/span><\/p>\n The cameraman that runs over to talk to police officers on the scene for confirmation that the man was cuffed before being shot but the cops refuse to answer.<\/span><\/p>\n At 12 noon local time, the cameraman uploaded a second video to YouTube with different witnesses confirming the account.<\/span><\/p>\n In the second video, a new witness says \u201ca female officer with fucking short blonde hair\u201d opened fire on the suspect.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhile he was in handcuffs?\u201d the cameraman asks.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d He confirms.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd you witnessed this?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI saw this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The witness alleges that the officer in question shot the man twice in the chest. A third witness caught on film confirms reports that the victim was handcuffed during the shooting.<\/span><\/p>\n Only two days earlier, protesters in San Francisco disrupted service on the local transportation system in remembrance of Kenneth Harding, a 19 year old that was shot and killed one year earlier during a standoff with the police. Local law enforcement has still been at odds with the community in recent times, especially since a New Year\u2019s Day 2009 incident in nearby Oakland sparked nationwide protests.<\/span><\/p>\n In the early morning hours of January 1, 2009, Officer Johannes Mehserle of the Bay Area Rapid Transit Police shot and killed 22-year-old Oscar Grant after detaining him in handcuffs.Mehserle served 11 months in jail for the crime.<\/span><\/p>\n