http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/metreon15.htm Published Friday, June 15, 2001, in the San Jose Mercury News Officers kill S.F. man after violent rampage in movie theater BY ALEXIS CHIU Minutes before a knife-wielding San Francisco man was shot to death by police inside the Sony Metreon theater complex, investigators say, he told his girlfriend to leave, kissed her goodbye and made a chilling prediction:

``I'm going to die tonight.'' The man, 23-year-old Idriss Stelley of the city's Bayview district, was fatally shot in a violent confrontation with up to eight police officers as the movie ``Swordfish'' played in the background.

Stelley first became visibly angry around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, several minutes into the late screening, when he refused a theater usher's request to extinguish his cigarette. Stelley soon pulled out a knife and told everyone in the audience to leave, police said.

``He said things like, `Whoever values their life should leave right now,' '' said homicide inspector Holly Pera, adding that the theater quickly emptied.

Stelley also told his girlfriend of five years, whom police identified as a 22-year-old San Francisco woman, to leave and ``be with your family because I'm going to die tonight,'' Pera said.

When officers arrived, they found Stelley -- alone and agitated -- in the back of the auditorium.
He allegedly resisted their attempts to arrest him and fended off three pepper spray attacks before advancing on police. He was swinging a knife attached to a chain ``like a martial-arts weapon,'' said Lt. Larry Minasian.

``He was lunging at them, jumping over chairs at them. He continued to swing the knife and actually did cut one of the officers' clothing,'' Pera said.

``He just got so close, they felt they had no choice but to protect their lives and the lives of the other officers and people in the theater.'' Stelley was shot by at least three officers, who fired at least 20 shots, Minasian said. The number that hit Stelley was not disclosed.

Stelley suffered from manic depression, which his family told police had worsened in recent weeks. The police department's homicide unit is investigating the shooting, including the possibility Stelley may have intentionally goaded officers to kill him -- a phenomenon known as ``suicide by cop,'' Minasian said.

``A number of witnesses said the officers showed tremendous restraint,'' Minasian said. ``Our preliminary finding is that our officers did everything right.'' One of the officers, Thomas Walsh, was shot in the leg and buttocks during the encounter, and was expected to recover fully. Authorities will try to determine whether he was accidentally shot by another officer or was hit by ricocheting bullets.

Stelley's family told investigators he was a bright young man who had suffered from mental health problems since he was 5, Pera said. In July 2000, an abbreviated stint in the Navy ended because of those problems. He had been studying business at Heald College and living with his girlfriend when he took a turn for the worse, she said.

Stelley had a minor criminal record, none of it reflecting violent tendencies, Pera said.

The officers involved in the shooting were on leave Thursday but will be allowed back to work, if they choose, starting today.

``It's a tragedy all the way around,'' Pera said.

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