Overview

• Brian Montana, 60, was identified as the armed suspect killed in a standoff with South San Francisco police on April 28, 2025.
• The confrontation began over a dispute about tree debris and escalated into a violent exchange of gunfire lasting over 25 minutes.
• Montana fired multiple weapons, including a handgun, shotgun, and rifle, at officers, who returned fire and fatally struck him.
• A neighbor sustained a graze wound and was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries; two officers involved are on paid administrative leave pending investigation.
• Montana, an original guitarist for Possessed, played a pivotal role in naming and shaping the death metal genre with the band’s 1984 'Death Metal' demo.