San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee’s decision to replace Police Chief Greg Suhr brings up the questions of whether he acted soon enough or, conversely, if he should have waited until he had enough information about Thursday’s fatal police shooting.

Whatever the answer, analysts said the mayor — politically — had no choice. And Lee and his staff hope that by replacing Suhr, the media and the community will shift its focus from the fate of a beleaguered police chief to the reforms the mayor is seeking in the Police Department.

“Politically, it was necessary,” said John J. Pitney Jr., a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College. “The experience of other cities strongly suggests that without a firing the political pressure would become daunting. The mayor also undoubtedly considered the possibility of civil unrest, and that creates enormous problems of its own.”

Over the past five months, Lee has struggled to bridge a cultural and political gulf that began with the fatal police shooting of Mario Woods in December and grew after officers shot and killed Luis Gongora, a homeless man, in April.

Interviews with dozens of residents Friday in two very different neighborhoods — the Bayview, a poor and largely African American district where tensions ran high after two fatal police shootings since December, and the Castro, the far-wealthier gay enclave with a smaller minority population — underscore the competing narratives Lee faced as he struggled with whether or not to keep Suhr.

‘It’s just too much killing’

In the Bayview, everyone interviewed said relations with the police were at a nadir. Few people knew many details of the officer-involved shootings, including the one near the neighborhood Thursday that prompted Lee to replace Suhr, but the simple fact that they kept happening made it clear to them that a change was needed.

“It’s just too much killing,” said Charles Thompson, 68. “The people they’re killing don’t got guns or nothing.”

“It’s depressing, this whole situation,” said Sally Taylor, 63, a retired health care worker who was born and raised in the Bayview. She had mixed feelings about Lee’s decision but said “he didn’t have a choice, because of the pressure.”

The sentiment in the Castro was markedly different. As in the Bayview, most people interviewed in the Castro knew few details about the shootings. But in contrast, the Castro residents said that made them unqualified to judge whether Lee should have fired Suhr.

And those residents who did know more said it only underscored the general lack of knowledge. Chris Mahon, who has lived in the Castro 27 years, said Lee should have waited to replace Suhr until more details emerged about Thursday’s fatal police shooting near the Bayview of 29-year-old Jessica Williams, a black woman. Officers suspected she was driving a stolen car.

“How do you know until the real story comes out?” Mahon said. “Was this woman threatening? Was she really driving a stolen car? The story is not out yet.”

Lee acknowledged in his news conference Thursday that “the facts are still emerging.” But his rhetoric was more reflective of the sentiments of Bayview residents. “These officer-involved shootings, justified or not, have forced our city to open its eyes to questions of when and how police use lethal force,” Lee said.

James Taylor, director of the African American studies program at the University of San Francisco, said Lee made the right call to fire Suhr. But he said the fact that Lee didn’t cut ties with him sooner cost him political capital among minority communities.

“It’s sort of like he has closed the gate after the horse has long gotten out. He cannot take credit for demonstrating leadership in this particular incident,” Taylor said. “In terms of his political credibility in San Francisco, it hurts Lee, and it’s going to take him a long time to recover.”

Shooting a turning point

Lee stood by Suhr, whom he appointed in 2011, through the two controversial earlier police shootings within the past six months and revelations that several officers had exchanged racist and homophobic text messages.

As recently as last week, he held an hour-long news conference to express full confidence in Suhr’s ability to make changes in department policy to lessen the chances of officers resorting to lethal force. Thursday’s fatal shooting immediately changed the calculus. Six hours after the shooting, Lee was before the cameras to announce that he had asked for and received Suhr’s resignation.

Lee’s decision to appoint Toney Chaplin as acting chief, however, did not win him any points with progressive supervisors. Supervisor David Campos criticized the mayor for not acting sooner.

“It was the right thing to do, but I think it’s not enough,” Campos said Thursday. “Part of the reason that we are in the mess we have been in is because I believe the mayor has failed to act decisively on this issue before.”

Campos himself supported Suhr until last week — he changed his position after a blue-ribbon panel of judges assembled by District Attorney George Gascón released a preliminary report concluding the SFPD engages in “stop and frisk” tactics and does a poor job tracking officers’ misconduct.

“I am glad the mayor asked for the chief’s resignation, but I wish it was done a lot sooner,” Supervisor Eric Mar said. “It’s terrible it had to follow another death of an African American. ... Hopefully, he works with those of us who have been calling for systemic changes.”

Supervisor John Avalos agreed: “It took a long time, I wish he had done it sooner, but that’s only part of what has to get done. What has to get done is implementing the reforms that are needed and making sure the rank and file are living up to the reforms that are being made.”

Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the Castro, is the only supervisor to say that he disagreed with Lee’s decision to replace Suhr.

The mayor’s office, meanwhile, insists it has been focusing on changing policies — but no one is listening.

Lee has proposed $11.3 million in additional funding for violence prevention programs and crisis-response teams, $4.4 million for antibias training for police officers and new equipment to emphasize de-escalation, including stun guns, and $1.8 million sor the civilian Office of Citizen Complaints could add five investigators to look into suspected cases of police misconduct.

Lee’s credibility at stake

David Sklansky, a professor at Stanford Law School, said part of Lee’s logic in replacing Suhr was trying to change the narrative and perceptions around the shootings of unarmed suspects.

“There is a good reason to think that the department needs a chief who can make progress on that issue and be seen by the community as making progress on the issue,” Sklansky said. “My guess is that’s what the mayor was focusing on and it’s sensible that he was focusing on that.”

Lee’s “credibility on that issue will depend a lot on what happens next,” Sklansky said.

Emily Green is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: egreen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: emilytgreen