Man Shot During Police Chase Was Murder Suspect
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A parolee who was fatally shot by San Francisco police has been identified as a person of interest in the Washington state shooting death of a pregnant woman.
Authorities said Kenneth Harding, 19, was killed Saturday after firing at officers who were trying to cite him for light-rail fare evasion. The shooting occurred during a foot chase in the Bayview-Hunters Point area.
Harding had recently been released from Washington state prison after he served time for convictions stemming from a King County sex offense.
San Francisco police Chief Greg Suhr said Sunday the man who had been killed by officers was a person of interest in last Wednesday's killing of 19-year-old Tanaya Gilbert in South Seattle. Family members said Gilbert was several weeks pregnant.
Three other people were also injured in the shooting.
Seattle police Det. Mark Jamieson told The Associated Press on Monday that he could not confirm that Harding was linked to the attack.
Rose Bankston, Gilbert's aunt, told The Seattle Times late Sunday that Gilbert's mother, Chekel Cox, had been told by Seattle police that ballistics tests would be conducted on a .45-caliber pistol recovered after the San Francisco incident to see if it was used in the killing of Gilbert.
Suhr said San Francisco investigators recovered the weapon after cell phone video taken after the shooting was posted online showing a witness retrieving the gun and running off with it.
"God bless the Bayview community members who had the courage to come forward and tell us pretty much the whole story that there had been shots fired at the officers," Suhr told KTVU-TV.
He said the cooperation of the community, witnesses and officers led to the recovery of the weapon.
Meanwhile, a makeshift memorial has been created for Harding.
Activists including, the Idriss Stelley Foundation and SF Education Not Incarceration, planned a news conference later Monday at the site of the shooting to call for the formation of a civilian review board and a federal investigation.
Supervisor Malia Cohen, who represents the area where the incident occurred, released a statement urging anyone with information to contact police. Cohen also intends to review the results of the internal investigation by the Police Department to ensure protocol was followed.
