Man Killed by Cops Left Suicide Notes

A man who was shot and killed by two San Francisco cops left behind suicide notes on his cellphone, including one addressed to officers, police said Monday. “Dear Officer(s),” the letter said. “You did nothing wrong. You ended the life of a man who was too much of a coward to do it himself.” Matthew Hoffman, 32, was fatally shot after he trespassed into a restricted parking lot and pulled out what appeared to be a handgun, but was actually an air gun, which uses small pellets or BBs. Two sergeants fired off three bullets and Hoffman later died at San Francisco General Hospital. The air-powered BB gun did not have a colored tip, which signals that it’s a toy, police said. Hoffman raised suspicions earlier in the day when he questioned Mission Station officers just blocks away about their guns. “Please don’t blame yourself. I used you,” the letter, published with permission from Hoffman’s father, went on to say. “I took advantage of you.”