On Thursday afternoon, the man who was shot and killed by San Francisco police inside San Francisco International Airport terminal was not armed with real guns, according to ABC7 News.

The district attorney for San Mateo County explains that the guns were airsoft replicas, and that the inquiry has now been handed over to the attorney general’s office.

The San Francisco Police Department rushed to San Francisco International Airport shortly before 7:30 a.m. after getting multiple calls about a strange guy.

“He appeared to be armed with a handgun,” according to SFPD spokesperson Officer Grace Gatpandan.

Officer Gatpandan wouldn’t disclose what de-escalation strategies the officers took, but he did claim the encounter lasted around 45 minutes.

“It was enough time to get resources to this location to help de-escalate the situation,” said Gatpandan.

The individual was shot and killed by officers. The number of cops who shot or the number of bullets fired have not been disclosed by police.

The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office was initially in charge of the investigation until the attorney general’s office was summoned this afternoon.

That’s because the guns the suspect carried weren’t actual firearms, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

“What they determined was those firearms were airsoft guns,” said Wagstaffe.

In other words, Wagstaffe says, replicas.

“Whenever there is a fatal shooting by a law enforcement officer of what is defined as an unarmed person, the district attorney’s office does not conduct the investigation. That will be conducted under the law by the attorney general’s office and that is what happened here,” said Wagstaffe.

According to Wagstaffe, the suspect also possessed a knife. He saw images of the two weapons.

“They absolutely looked real to me,” said Wagstaffe.

“If I were standing and a man across from me was holding those I would assume he had a firearm that could be used to harm me,” he continued.

Airsoft weapons, according to Wagstaffe, occasionally include an orange tip that distinguishes them from actual firearms. He claims that in this case, they did not, and that the tip was maybe removed.

“Melanie, we’ve seen that happen many times,” said Wagstaffe.

A customer service representative at the airport reported retreating to a designated safe location.

“We just got all the passengers we were in the middle of checking in flights and it was pretty scary,” said Claudia Avalos.

While passengers were thankful.

“Sorry he lost his life but better than innocent people,” said Cheryl Comfort-Brown.

A bystander was hurt and treated on the scene, according to San Francisco police. With non-life threatening injuries, he was transferred to a local hospital.

Around SFO, there are a lot of cameras. Investigators have not revealed how the individual gained access to the terminal or whether he used BART. There was no evidence of terrorism, according to police.

Within 10 days, the SFPD says it will hold a town hall meeting on the shooting.

Wagstaffe would not comment specifically on the AG’s probe but said that in these types of circumstances, the question is whether cops were justified in believing the subject had a real gun and that their lives were in danger.

“We can not expect our law enforcement to try and engage in the concept of well is it real or not real, by then it may be too late,” said Wagstaffe.

In a news release issued on Thursday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta stated that the California Department of Justice is investigating and will conduct an impartial assessment of the case. State prosecutors are required to examine situations involving officers that end in death under Assembly Bill 1506 (AB 1506).

Image Credit: Getty

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