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San Francisco police chief Greg Suhr (L) and FBI Special Agent in Charge David Johnson (R) hold a news conference to discuss the arrest of San Francisco political and media consultant Ryan Chamberlain on June 3, 2014 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco police officers arrested Chamberlain on Monday afternoon on suspicion of possessing explosives in violation of federal law after a three day nationwide manhunt.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Hours after a San Francisco officer fatally shot a young black woman the mayor called for the police chief Greg Suhr’s resignation.
According to the Associated Press, Suhr has been under fire since December when five officers were caught on video shooting a young black man, Mario Woods, wielding a knife. Then in April, racist text messages between three officers were leaked. Although several of the text messages date back to before Suhr’s tenure, Suhr was criticized for moving slowly to discipline the officers once it was bought to his attention.
Suhr’s resignation came after police found a 27-year-old black woman, whose identity has not been released, sitting behind the wheel of a reportedly stolen car. The woman allegedly sped off when she noticed the officers and crashed into a park utility truck, shortly after she took off, AP reports.
The woman reportedly began revving the car in an attempt to flee. Officers attempted to grab the woman from the car when a sergeant fired one fatal round, Suhr said hours after the shooting.
San Francisco mayor Ed Lee then asked for and received Suhr’s resignation.
“The progress we’ve made has been meaningful, but it hasn’t been fast enough,” Lee said in a brief statement at City Hall, AP reports. “Not for me, not for Greg.”
The mayor announced that Deputy Chief Toney Chaplin, a 26-year veteran, would be acting chief.
“Toney Chaplin has the charisma, chemistry and courage to lead this department,” Rev. Amos Brown, the president of the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP told AP.
Read more at the Associated Press.
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