Neighbor says deadly South SF police shooting was sparked by a tree trimming dispute

ByLena Howland KGO logo
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Neighbor: Deadly South SF police shooting was sparked by tree dispute
A South San Francisco man was killed by police after he fired at them, also injuring a neighbor, and one resident says it started over a tree dispute.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KGO) -- A gun battle with police ended with one man dead and a neighbor hurt on Monday night in a South San Francisco neighborhood.

Police say it was sparked by a dispute between neighbors.

It happened on Arroyo Drive near Cuesta Drive just before 6 p.m. on Monday.

Officers still had Arroyo Drive blocked off to all traffic for two blocks on Tuesday morning.

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Neighbors in the Rancho Buri Buri neighborhood originally thought the sound of gunfire could have been fireworks.

"We have a lot of fireworks around here, we've got some people around here that put on some pretty impressive displays and it doesn't matter what time of year, but these were gunshots," Cory David, who lives in the area, said.

Police showed up to a house on Arroyo Drive after several calls about a disturbance with a neighbor.

"I understand that it was a dispute over a tree that was hanging over that he cut back," David said. "And it's tragic that even that individual, again, he tried to resolve a situation the wrong way."

Though police haven't confirmed what the dispute was over, they say the suspect started firing at them and into a home with people inside several times, shortly after they showed up.

Officers then fired their weapons at the suspect, who they say was a man in his 60s.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

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This activity prompted a brief shelter-in-place for homes in the area.

"It says on the thing from Nextdoor to shelter in place, so that's exactly what I did," Patrick Martinez, a neighbor, said. "I just wanted to make sure that everybody at home was safe, I didn't want anybody to leave the house and I locked the door."

A neighbor in the area of the shooting was also injured and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police say the suspect was in possession of both a handgun and a shotgun.

"Preliminary information, there was some type of dispute, we're still trying to sort out what the relationship was," Sgt. Elena Dominguez with the South San Francisco Police Department said. "It was a dispute, we have no indication it was a drive-by."

No officers were hurt in the shooting.

South San Francisco Police say that multiple 911 calls came in about this armed individual, who was later killed.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of the story said this shooting occurred in the Winston Manor neighborhood; however, upon further review, it happened in the Rancho Buri Buri area.

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