Officers Acted Lawfully When Shooting Knife-Wielding Suspect In SMC: DA

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The San Mateo District Attorney's Office says two officers acted lawfully when they opened fire at a man shuffling towards them with a knife in December 2025.

Officer Martin Corona and Brendan Hart were taking the necessary steps to ensure their safety and the public's when they shot Luis Francisco-Manzo on Dec. 8, 2025, according to San Mateo District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe.

Francisco-Manzo was on drugs and walking towards the officers in a "menacing manner" while holding a four-inch kitchen knife, Wagstaffe said in a recent memo to the South San Francisco Police Department.

"This situation facing Officer Corona and Officer Hart was volatile and developing quickly," Wagstaffe said in the memo. "There were private citizens living in the area and other officers in the immediate vicinity of the confrontation."

Video released by the officers shows a person who police say is Francisco-Manzo approaching the officers closely with a knife.

The officers retreat and tell Francisco-Manzo to get on the ground.

Francisco-Manzo continues towards them, knife in hand, before the officers fire multiple shots at him, the video shows.

Police say they responded just after 5 a.m. to an apartment on the 900 block of Sandra Court, where a woman told officers her son, Francisco-Manzo, was using drugs and threatening to kill himself.

Officers told Francisco-Manzo to walk towards them. He complied until he got closer to the officers, police said.

That's when Francisco-Manzo pulled out a knife from his pocket and started walking towards the officers.

Tasers were ineffective on Francisco-Manzo, and he continued walking until the officers fired at him, police said.

The shots struck Francisco-Manzo in the stomach, cheek and chest. When officers began handcuffing him and rendering aid, Francisco-Manzorepeatedly asked them to kill him, according to Wagstaffe.

"It is always difficult to be thrust into circumstances such as the officers faced on that December Day," Wagstaffe said. "... but the willingness of Officers Corona and Hart and the other officers to step up and protect members of our community earns the gratitude of all of us."

Francisco-Manzo, who survived the shooting, is now facing four felony counts of resisting arrest and one count of assault on a peace officer.