The NAACP in San Francisco will hold a special meeting Monday night urging the community to remain calm after officers shot and killed a stabbing suspect last week.
Mario Woods, 26, was accused of stabbing another man in the shoulder Dec. 2. Police said he was armed with a knife and refused to drop it despite officers' orders.
San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr said his officers first tried to subdue Woods with non-lethal weapons, including a bean-bag gun and pepper spray, to no avail. According to police, officers opened fire when Woods, still holding the knife, appeared to move toward a bus full of people.
Video posted to social media shows five police officers firing at Woods. The police department released a photo of the knife they said he was holding.
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NAACP Board Member and Third Baptist Church Pastor Amos Brown said in a statement before Monday's meeting that watching Woods get shot was "all too familiar and painful," but he also urged restraint.
"We cannot and will not allow ourselves to react to this abhorrent event with more violence," he said.
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Community tensions boiled over Friday night at a community meeting in the Bayview District, where several members called for Suhr's resignation.
Bayview resident Frank Williams told those gathered Friday the shooting video is hard to watch.
"He got shot like he was at a firing squad. Deplorable," he said.
Williams and dozens of others lined up Friday for a chance to speak to the police chief and commissioners, telling the panel the department needs to implement change from the top down.
"I think we need reform," Williams said. "As far as use of excessive force, I'm not saying police are criminals; I'm saying they're doing what they were told."
Members of the police commission said they plan to review the department's use-of-force policy and procedures.
Suhr said he has contacted a police research forum on the East Coast that is looking into bringing de-escalation techniques used in Europe to the United States. The chief said he wants his department to be part of that process.
Monday's meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Third Baptist Church at 1399 McAllister Street in San Francisco.
