San Francisco’s police chief has resigned at the request of the city’s mayor, hours after an officer shot dead a young black woman driving a stolen car.
The shooting was the culmination of several racially-charged incidents in the past year.
Pressure had been mounting for the resignation of Greg Suhr since December, when five officers shot dead Mario Woods, a young black man carrying a knife.
Since then there have been protests, moves to reform the police department and a government review.
Mayor Ed Lee supported the chief in December and again in April, after it was disclosed that three officers had exchanged racist text messages.
But he was asked to quit after the fatal shooting of a 27-year-old black woman yesterday in the city’s Bayview area.
The woman in a stolen car allegedly tried to drive off when approached by a police patrol and then crashed into a nearby vehicle.
A witness reported that the officers opened the driver’s door and began grabbing the woman in an attempt to arrest her.
At that point, a sergeant fired one fatal round.
The mayor said he asked for and received Mr Suhr’s resignation.
At a news conference, Mayor Lee said he hoped the resignation would help “to heal the city”.
The woman, who has not been identified, was shot in the same neighbourhood where the five officers shot and killed Mr Woods, 26.
Video of Mr Woods’ shooting circulated widely online and led to protests and calls for Mr Suhr’s resignation.
The mayor has appointed Mr Suhr’s deputy, Toney Chaplin, a black officer with 26 years in the department, as the city’s acting police chief.
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