Gunman kills 3, shoots self at UPS building in SF

As UPS workers were gathered for a regular Wednesday morning exercise meeting at their San Francisco distribution center, a man wearing the delivery company’s trademark brown uniform burst in and opened fire, killing three people and wounding at least two others before fatally shooting himself in the head, police said.

The gunfire erupted at 8:55 a.m. inside the UPS building on Potrero Hill during the company’s Wednesday Wellness gathering, sparking panic as workers ran for their lives.

As dozens of police officers and firefighters descended on the building at 320 San Bruno Ave. between 16th and 17th streets, the hundreds of people who work at the center were rushing from the building. For hours, area residents were told to shelter in place while police searched the four-story building, looking for any additional assailants.

Some victims were dragged from the building into the street, and two bodies lay in the intersection at 17th Street and San Bruno Avenue outside the building, covered with yellow tarps. As co-workers bolted from the building, the gunman apparently fired more shots at people outside.

Police officers stand over a dead body at the scene of a fatal shooting at 17th Street and San Bruno Avenue in San Francisco on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. Police officers stand over a dead body at the scene of a fatal shooting at 17th Street and San Bruno Avenue in San Francisco on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 72 Caption Close Gunman kills 3, shoots self at UPS building in SF 1 / 72 Back to Gallery

The incident ended when police officers encountered the shooter inside the sprawling building. During the face-to-face confrontation, the man raised what police officials said was an “assault pistol” to his head and pulled the trigger.

Police identified the gunman as Jimmy Lam, 38, of San Francisco. Officers towed a 2012 BMW coupe from outside the building that is registered to Lam. Officers later raided Lam’s apartment in San Francisco’s Inner Richmond District. Neither police nor the company would confirm that the killer worked for UPS, but a union official told the Associated Press that Lam had filed a grievance complaining that he was working excessive overtime.

“This person took his life because our officers confronted him,” said Assistant Police Chief Toney Chaplin. “The officers did what they’re trained to do.”

The San Francisco Medical Examiner identified the victims as Wayne Chan, 56, and Benson Louie, 50, of San Francisco, and Michael Lefiti, 46, of Hercules.

About 90 minutes after the shooting at the building, used as a processing and distribution center for UPS parcels, police declared the scene contained.

Some of those shot were taken to San Francisco General Hospital. Near the emergency room door, a woman in jeans and a sweatshirt who declined to give her name said she was waiting for news from doctors about the condition of her father, who she said was a UPS employee.

“My dad is in there and he was shot,” the woman said, shaking her head. It was later learned that the woman’s father had died of his injuries.

A co-worker who said he had been inside the building when the gunfire broke out said he recognized the shooter as a UPS employee.

Another UPS employee, who gave his name only as Nick, said he had been on the third floor of the building when he heard a series of what he described as “metal on metal” noises. Then he saw people running from the floor and heard people shouting.

People were screaming, “‘Go. Go. Get outside,’” he said, and Nick ran with his colleagues. Once outside the building, Nick said he looked back and saw the shooter fire more shots across the street. He said he saw one person get shot.

Chaplin said police had recovered two guns, including an assault pistol — either semi- or fully automatic — that the killer used to take his own life. About six hours after the shooting, Chaplin said officers were still interviewing scores of witnesses to determine exactly what happened and when.

He said two people were in the hospital with bullet wounds and three others were injured in the stampede for the exit.

Among the dead was Lefiti, who grew up in Daly City, lived in Hercules and had two sons and a daughter. When word came that Lefiti had died, one of his sons ran from the hospital, sobbing.

Lefiti worked mostly in the Diamond Heights area of the city, where one frequent customer, Jessica Irvine, said he was “very, very well-loved by everybody. He was very friendly and helpful and honest.”

At the Diamond Heights Safeway, where Lefiti frequently parked his UPS truck, friends and customers set up a shrine with flowers, candles and photographs.

“He didn’t have any enemies in the world,” said one neighborhood resident, Ronald Bandar.

As the horrific scene unfolded at the UPS building, several people believed to be UPS employees stood on the rooftop parking area at the building with their hands raised, apparently to indicate they were unarmed and needed assistance.

A man who lives a half block from the UPS center and who identified himself only as Chino said he had seen several people, their bodies covered with blood, dragged from the building by uniformed officers or firefighters and loaded into ambulances.

“I was sick to my stomach, seeing those bodies,” Chino said. “They were looking pretty bad.”

Dozens of police cars, sheriff’s cars and Fire Department vehicles were in the area, along with several ambulances. Officers with drawn rifles stood in the street.

Relatives of UPS workers gathered in the surrounding streets. One woman, who declined to give her name, said her husband worked at the building and was in a meeting with colleagues when the gunman entered and started shooting. He called her soon after the shooting to say, “I’m OK,” she said.

“Someone came up and just started shooting,” she said her husband told her over the phone. When the shooting started, she said her husband told her he ran for his life.

“He’s a mess right now,” she said. “I get to take my husband home and someone else doesn’t.”

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was sending a team to the crime scene to help in the investigation. California Highway Patrol officers and San Francisco sheriff’s deputies also assisted.

Mayor Ed Lee, in a statement, said he “wanted to thank our brave officers of the San Francisco Police Department and our dedicated employees at 911 and San Francisco General Hospital.”

“I also want to offer my condolences and thoughts for the individuals and families affected. We all know the familiar faces of our local UPS drivers and delivery persons. We are always saddened when someone loses a life to gun violence. Even one shooting and one victim is too many.”

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Sarah Ravani contributed to this report.

Evan Sernoffsky, Filipa Ioannou, Hamed Aleaziz and Steve Rubenstein are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com, fioannou@sfchronicle.com, haleaziz@sfchronicle.com and srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky, @obioannoukenobi, @Haleaziz and @SteveRubeSF