(07-18) 17:21 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco's waterfront and nearby Financial District were shaken Wednesday morning when police shot and killed a chocolate factory worker after he allegedly refused to drop a box cutter used to stab a fellow worker.
The employee, an unidentified 30-year-old man, is suspected of stabbing his co-worker in the arm during an altercation at the TCHO chocolate factory on Pier 17 a little after 10 a.m., said Police Chief Greg Suhr.
Workers in the area said the episode was unusual for two parts of the city known more for tourist attractions and business suits.
"It's probably one of the safest areas in the city, with the exception of guys playing tricks and hustling tourists," said Travis Jensen, 33, who works in a law firm near the shooting scene. "To hear that someone was shot over there just around the corner in the Financial District is a little surprising."
Construction workers taking an early lunch break saw the violence erupt when a man approached a worker who was cleaning a piece of equipment and slashed at him with the device. The victim's arm was cut badly when he held it up in a defensive reaction to block the blade, Suhr said.
The stabber ran out of the chocolate factory and south along the Embarcadero, police said. The victim chased after him a short way, dripping a trail of blood on the sidewalk.
Police responding to the stabbing pursued the suspect several blocks into the Financial District, to an area near Washington and Davis streets.
A female officer ordered the man to stop and drop the weapon, but the man instead lunged at her with the box cutter and was stopped by two bullets in the chest at close range, Suhr said at a news conference in front of the TCHO factory.
Officers handcuffed the man and turned him over. When they saw he'd been hit, they removed the handcuffs and began CPR.
The man was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where he died after undergoing emergency surgery, police said.
His victim was treated and released from the hospital.
Both men were temporary employees at the factory, Suhr said. Police did not say what prompted the assault or how well the men knew each other.
The chocolate factory was sealed off and tourists who had hoped to visit the chocolate factory were turned away at the door.
TCHO representatives declined to comment on the stabbing after reopening for business Wednesday afternoon.
The female officer, whose name was not released, has been placed on paid leave following standard protocol, Suhr said. The shooting is being investigated by city homicide inspectors and the District Attorney's office.
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