The Laughing Policeman - Shootout
The police get a call from somebody claiming to be the bus murderer. What's more he has hostages holed up in an old house ...
Then ... The cops converge on the house, in the heart of Japantown in the Western Addition. This is the view west from Laguna down Bush Street towards St. Dominic's Catholic Church at Steiner, top left.
... and Now, more trees certainly, but the main difference here is the tower of St. Dominic's, redesigned and rebuilt following serious damage from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Then ... A heavily armed response team takes up position at the southwest corner of Laguna and Bush outside the K & F Drayage Trucking Co. building at 1899 Bush.
... and Now, another structure has since taken its place.
Then ... The suspect's house is at 1727 Laguna Street (map). As Jake and Larsen observe it one of the hostages seeks escape by unwisely clambering out of a 3rd floor window ... "Don't do that, lady ..."
... and Now, the house has long since been demolished, one of the many victims of the Western Addition's ethnic cleansing program. The building on the right, next to it and under construction during the filming, is still there today, the Konko-Kyo Church of San Francisco.
Then ... The unfortunate hostage slips and falls. Across the street is another view of the Drayage Trucking building on the corner of Bush and next to it one of the twin towers of the Bush Street Temple, built in 1895. In 2003 the temple became the Kokoro Assisted Living Center.
... and Now, the new building on the corner was built as an extension of the Kokoro Center.
Then ... Apparently hostage negotiation was not part of the Police Department's job description in the 1970s - a fierce firefight ensues with multiple fatalities on both sides ending only when the suspect is shot. Across the street an ambulance pulls up to 1727 Laguna where we see that it had a store, Coast Camera & Radio, on its first floor.
... and Now, there's a church parking lot with a gated entrance where the house used to sit.
It turns out the suspect was a deranged vet with a prosthetic leg; he couldn't have been the bus murderer who was witnessed climbing off the bus and walking briskly away. Another lead bites the dust.