On May 9th, 2025, San Francisco dispatch
received a startling 911 call of a man
armed with a gun. At the time of the
call, the caller was with her
four-year-old child. Francisco 911.
What's the exact location of the
emergency?
Hi. Um, I'm in my backyard and there is
a neighbor with a gun yelling at our
kids to be quiet. If you guys come
through my backyard, you'll see where he
is. Let me get the officers going. Bear
with me. Okay. Get get to the front of
the house. I don't want you near the
gun. Was it a handgun? Long big gun. A
handgun. It's a handgun. He's just
telling our kids who are playing in
their own backyard to shut the up. And
he has a gun. He's wheeling it around.
All of our kids are like under floor
playing right here. Hey, do you want to
go contact on that side and then I'll
make contact here. We'll isolate him. Go
get in the car and then we'll go from
there. Right now in the truck. Okay. And
all the doors are open for the backyard.
Still good. I'll walk you real quick.
Okay. I actually just just don't open
this door cuz uh this door my dogs are
in there. Yeah, that's okay. But he's
directly behind. So like I'll show you
right now. Right.
So that house right with all the trees.
Yeah. With all the trees right down
here. So look right there. He is right.
See what?
Okay. He's looking over. He's looking
over there right now. I don't know where
he's going over there. He's right there.
He's got the gun. Yeah, he's still got
the gun. You see the gun he's dead. Ida
13 David code 33. We need to isolate him
in the house.
Okay. Wait in your car.
[Music]
He's looking on the south side of the
fence line. He looks like by himself and
I don't think he's made aware of our
presence yet. Hey, does he uh does he
live there? Do you guys know him? So,
yeah, he lives there. Here, I'll show
you. So, he's looking over, so I don't
know what the All right, dispatch. It's
going to be a white male 3540. He's got
green shorts. Sorry, green shirts,
corduroy pants. He is looking over the
fence line. I don't think he's made
aware of our presence, but we might need
to have someone go contact the Levans to
let them know just to shelter in place
or to get him out of there.
Um him on dragon. You see him on your
side.
Copy.
Um
the the resident at that house. Just get
him out of there. Just um have chill in
the car. Okay. So, I don't know if
someone's over there, but I'll just try
to do my best to maintain visual of him
until we until we get that isolated. We
are at six and we can see him directly
in front of us. Are the neighbors aware
to stay down? Yeah,
we'll just in case.
Yeah, I don't think he's made aware of
our presence yet. 13. Any update on
drone? You want to pull up the uh VFR
feed? Can you confirm the suspect's
wearing a green shirt?
Arab is a green shirt in the backyard
between 40th and 41st. I have visual
from him from the N9's house. He is
looking over a fence facing the south
side of the objective house.
Come to the do a photo and email to me.
Um I can't uh look at my phone right now
and I'll give you confirmation if that's
him or not.
Hey, so Fox email now.
Copy. Dispatch has an update. He's still
um looking on southside on the south
side of the objective backyard. He's
looking over the fence. He's still
isolated. Um it seems like he's waving
his harm hands or talking to someone. I
don't know if he's talking to himself,
but he's still isolated.
Says I got an email. Yeah. He's looking
at the drone and he's got the gun in his
right hand.
Donald, do you have good eyes on him?
Only right. I'm going to shift over
towards you.
Drop the gun. Drop the gun. Drop the
gun. Drop the gun. Behind you. Behind
you. Behind you. Yeah.
Drop the Get on the ground. Get on the
ground. Get on the ground. Subject's not
cooperating.
Get on the ground. He's on the ground.
He's on the ground. Suspect's on the
ground. Arrest coming in. Arrest in. Get
on the ground. Police. Get on the
ground. Get on the ground. Hands in the
air. Get on the ground. Get on the
ground. Do not reach for the gun.
Lay flat on your stomach.
Do not move. Stay on your back. Stay on
your back.
Do not move.
My arm is like
in dude, dude. No, not like
stupid. My arm is bleeding out, dude. I
swear to God.
God, dude. Serious. Where's the gun?
It's right there. Where the [ __ ]
Give me a tourniquet. Give me a tour.
I'm going to die. Okay. Thank you.
You're not going to die. Yeah, I'm going
to
die. Help me. Please help me. We're
helping you. We are helping out. It's
kind of okay. Good. Yeah.
Yeah.
[Music]
Dude, my arm is like off like like
entire.
Please help. Gun's over here. Somebody
stand with the gun.
Dude, it's fine. It's like,
by the way, it's actually fine.
The the guys in the other house over
there, they were like your
um they are bad. They are bad bad
people. Oh my god. Stop. Stop. Stop.
Stop.
The suspect, later identified as Dmitri
Hawkddaughter, was taken to an area
hospital and treated for a gunshot wound
to his right arm. He was then taken to
jail, and according to court documents,
charged with felony counts of assault
with a firearm, brandishing a firearm in
the presence of a peace officer,
negligent discharge of a firearm,
attempted vandalism, and two counts of
child endangerment. He was also charged
with a misdemeanor count of brandishing
a firearm in a threatening manner.
Hoaxter was released on probation and
fitted with electronic monitoring while
his case proceeds. According to local
reporting, at his arraignment on April
11th, 2025, two of the charges were
dropped. Negligent discharge of a
firearm and vandalism in regards to
alleged damage to the police drone. He
was released on the condition that he
wear an alcohol monitor and have
bi-weekly check-ins with a case manager.
At the time of his arrest, Hawkstadder
had a 31% blood alcohol content. Also,
according to local reporting, police
asserted in their testimony that
Dimmitri fired the first shot, prompting
the officers to fire four returned
shots. However, no casing from
Dimmitri's gun was recovered from the
scene and police did not swab his hand
for gunpowder residue because of the
emergency medical situation that
unfolded. Though officers did not give
verbal warning before firing, San
Francisco Police Department's use of
force policy does not require a suspect
to shoot before officers can use force,
only if those officers believe that they
or anyone else present is in immediate
danger of death or serious bodily
injury. This is Dimmitri's first offense
on record. He is innocent unless proven
guilty in a court of law. I can only
imagine what it must have felt like for
these people to see cops crouching down,
pointing rifles at someone, and it's not
an intruder, but your neighbor. The
officers put a drone in the air and that
one move changed the entire situation
because from above they now have eyes on
the suspect without having to risk more
lives. But using these drones is
something that the San Francisco police
is using for the fight against crime and
it is working. And on July 26th of 2024,
officers responded to two suspects on
dirt bikes breaking into cars around
Embaradero. And a drone was able to
follow the suspect and locate the
position so officers can move in for the
arrest. And the mayor of San Francisco
has really been working hard to clean
things up. He eliminated the open air
drug markets and he empowered the police
with the latest technology and that does
include drones. And in law enforcement,
sight isn't just important, it's a
strategy. Because to be able to see
suspects movement and track in real time
and respond with precision can sometimes
make the difference between life and
death. One of the most advanced examples
of this is the real-time crime center in
Philadelphia. Because it's not just
about reacting faster, it's about
knowing more before police even arrive.
And lastly, we do see how different
departments are using drones to fight
crime. And the real-time crime center
integrates data from over 1,800
surveillance scammers, license plate
readers, and 14 police databases. And it
does serve as a nerf center for
Philadelphia and the surrounding region.
You know, I have a question. Do these
advancements enhance public safety
without compromising civil liberties?