At least eight San Francisco police officers were surrounding a man when several opened fire, shooting and killing the knife-wielding man in a hail of bullets earlier today.
Had it not been caught on Instagram video, this could easily have been reported as another case of a suspect “lunging” at the officers.
That, after all, is one of most commonly used words in police reports in cases where cops kill citizens carrying knives.
The video shows the man sauntering away from an enclosing group of cops with a witness yelling “drop it” before the camera is turned downwards, capturing the sounds of gunfire as horrified witnesses scream in shock.
The video ends after 15 seconds because that’s the limit for Instagram users.
Prior to the video surfacing, San Francisco police were telling the local media that the man was only “injured.”
But San Francisco Examiner reporter Michael Barba [__has been posting updates__](https://twitter.com/mdbarba) on Twitter, conforming the man’s death.
**UPDATE:** San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr [__told reporters__](http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Police-say-SF-officer-shoots-suspect-in-Bayview-6671485.php) that the video shows the man “move toward officers.”
But the video shows an officer step in front of the man as he tries to walk away.
**UPDATE II:** The man who was shot and killed has been identified as [__26-year-old Mario Woods.__](http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/12/03/mario-woods-stabbing-suspect-killed-sfpd-confrontation-caught-on-video-san-francisco/) Police say he had stabbed another man in the shoulder prior to police confronting him.
**UPDATE III**: A New video from a different angle.
