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SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO — Newly released surveillance video shows a frenzied confrontation early Sunday in which a man was seen attacking gas station patrons, fighting with and getting shot by an off-duty cop, withstanding a police Taser, and taking off in a patrol vehicle before he was later shot and killed by police.
The suspect was formally identified Monday as 35-year-old Antioch resident Justin Silvernale. The people he injured, a San Francisco police sergeant and a civilian whose name was not publicly disclosed, were both treated for stabbing injuries at a local hospital and were expected to recover. Law-enforcement sources told this news organization that the sergeant, a detective just coming off an overnight shift, suffered a slash wound to his neck.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the gas station attacks, in which Silvernale allegedly tried to carjack two people before the off-duty officer got involved.
The victims appear to have been randomly targeted, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said, adding that mental illness and drug abuse are factors being explored in his office’s investigation of the encounter.
“The victims were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Wagstaffe said. “This seems to be a desperate man who was willing to harm others. We’re going to investigate what was behind all of this.”
Security footage obtained by this news organization shows that around 5:25 a.m. Sunday, a man can be seen attacking two men near an SUV parked by a Chevron gas pump near the mini-mart and accompanying Carl’s Jr. restaurant at 110 Hickey Boulevard.
The San Francisco sergeant, who is filling up his pickup truck at a nearby pump, sees the confrontation, and runs over to intervene. The man, since identified as Silvernale, rushes the officer several times and appears to make contact with him at least once.
The two then make their way to the rear of the gas station area near the Carl’s Jr. drive-thru lane. At some point, the sergeant fired one shot at the suspect; authorities say Silvernale was wounded, although in the video he falls down more than once but is clearly mobile. At one point, while lying on his back in the drive-thru lane, the man repeatedly makes what look like slashing motions at his own throat.
Wagstaffe confirmed that the suspect was hit once in the torso by a bullet fired by the off-duty San Francisco sergeant.
“No matter what time of day it is or where you are, police officers are always on the job. Our officer showed true heroism in risking his life to protect others from a violent attacker, suffering a knife wound in the process,” Tony Montoya, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, said in a statement. “This is yet another example that police officers must always be vigilant, and we are thankful he is safe and will recover from his injuries.”
A few minutes later on the video, South San Francisco police officers arrive, and the man is surrounded by the officers in front of the mini-mart. One of the officers deploys a Taser on the man, and he appears to be briefly incapacitated, but he eventually gets up from the ground.
As the assembled officers maintain distance from the suspect, they watch as he casually ambles to the driver’s side of a parked police vehicle, gets inside and drives away. The other police officers quickly get into their patrol vehicles and chase after him.
That’s when police say Silvernale drove about a mile west to the Kaiser Permanante medical offices, also on Hickey Boulevard, and tried to drive through security gates leading to the parking garage, driving over tire spikes on the way and flattening all four of the police vehicle’s tires.
The suspect then rammed a pursuing patrol vehicle before exiting, pulling out his knife, and confronting another officer, police said. Authorities added that after they repeatedly ordered Silvernale to surrender, three officers opened fire. Silvernale died at the scene.
South San Francisco police deferred follow-up questions from this news organization, including what their duty manual says about vehicle security during enforcement actions, to the district attorney’s office.
Wagstaffe said the three South San Francisco officers who fired their weapons were placed on paid administrative leave while his office conducts an investigation that follows every officer-involved shooting in the county. The San Francisco Police Department said Monday that its sergeant was also placed on administrative leave.
Staff writer Aldo Toledo contributed to this report.
