SF Mayor asking U.S. Justice Department to investigate Mario Woods shooting

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee is asking the federal government to investigate the police shooting that claimed the life of Mario Woods last month.

Lee sent the letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch last Thursday, but the request was made public on Friday. In the letter, Lee wrote, "we want to throw our doors open, inviting transparency and accountability."

"We seek answers, not just to the facts of Mr. Woods’s case, but also answers about how as a Police Department and a City we can build deeper, stronger trust between law enforcement and the communities they’re sworn to protect.”

Protesters have been demanding a federal investigation, ever since the December 2 shooting. Demonstrators have also called for Police Chief Greg Suhr to be fired.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal, that would declare July 22, the birthday of Mario Woods, Mario Woods Remembrance Day.

The resolution also calls for the city to offer a public apology to his mother.

But the Police Officers Association sent a letter to Board of Supervisors President London Breed, saying the union is appalled that the City would honor Woods, rather than officers killed in the line of duty.

Police say Woods was a stabbing suspect, who confronted officers armed with a knife.
Officers say they fired bean bags at him, with no effect.