San Francisco police shoot dead woman who drove car at officers

[March 18, 2015]  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two plainclothes San Francisco police officers shot and killed a woman on Tuesday evening after she drove her car at them, ran into parked cars, and veered onto the sidewalk, police said.

The incident occurred around 7 p.m. local time, when the officers approached the driver, who was parked at a gas station near the city's downtown, as part of a possible stolen vehicle investigation, the police department said in a statement.

When the officers identified themselves as police, she drove toward them and then out of the gas station, the statement said.

The officers chased her on foot and the woman turned toward them, going the wrong way on the one way street. She drove onto the sidewalk, hit a building and several vehicles and forced a motorcyclist to ditch his bike to get out of her way, the statement said.

The statement said the officers feared for their safety and the public's when they fired at and killed the driver. No one else was injured, police said.

San Francisco Police Chief Gregory Suhr will hold a town hall meeting on the incident, the statement said.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner)

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