In a press conference following this weekend’s fatal shooting of Edward Lemarr Smith by SFPD, the SFPD has released a transcription they say is a voice mail Smith left his physician that same day:
Just called the cops. [Inaudible] from me. [Not?] my house anymore so I’m gonna try to take them out when they come to take me. It’s all over today, Doctor, it’s all over today. Bye-bye.
At the presser, SFPD Chief George Gascon said that Smith’s comments indicated that “he wanted to engage the officers” and that “you have an individual that probably wanted to be killed by the police. It looks clearly like a suicide by cop.”
The Guardian’s Tim Redmond notes that “the incident is once again renewing the discussion of Tasers” (a discussion we also saw on KCBS), but even Gascon, who’s known to support equipping SFPD officers with Tasers, said they wouldn’t have helped in this case.
According to the Chron, Gascon “said the situation had escalated too quickly and that Smith had been too close by the time the officer fired” quoting him as saying “If I have a suspect who is within 4 to 5 feet, I’m not going to pull out the Taser, I’m going to pull out a gun.”
