A man accused of killing his girlfriend Tuesday night in the Sunset told police he accidentally shot her through the wall while she was showering, according to a source familiar with the case.
Nation Wood, 25, said he was “dry-firing” his gun at his apartment and didn’t realize it was loaded when a round went through the wall and struck Samantha Emge, 22, according to the source.
Wood was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter. At a court hearing Friday afternoon, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Christopher Hu set Wood’s bail at $300,000.
The San Francisco Police Department said officers responded to a residence in the 2200 block of 22nd Avenue at about 10:43 p.m. Tuesday and found a woman who had been shot. The victim, later identified as Emge, a San Francisco resident and 2025 graduate of San Francisco State University, was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
A neighbor told The Standard they saw a bleeding person on the sidewalk outside the Abraham Lincoln High School gate. Police did not respond to questions about the location of Emge’s body when officers arrived.
Wood also graduated from SFSU in 2025, according to a spokesperson for the school. A friend of Emge told The Standard that Wood was Emge’s boyfriend. Emge’s Instagram profile includes several pictures featuring the couple since early 2024.
Police have provided no additional details, but the fact that Wood is facing a charge of involuntary manslaughter indicates that authorities believe the shooting was not intentional. Charging documents filed by the San Francisco district attorney’s office accuse Wood of killing Emge “without malice.”
“This is a very fresh investigation,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Friday. “While I understand some facts have come out, we are just beginning to determine everything that took place in that apartment that night.”
Jenkins said only Wood and Emge, who lived together in the apartment, were present at the time of the shooting. She declined to comment on the nature of their relationship.
Members of Wood’s family, including his father, were present in the courtroom Friday for his arraignment. Emge’s parents and siblings also attended.
Members of Samantha Emge’s family arrive Friday at the Hall of Justice for Wood’s arraignment. | Source: Benjamin Fanjoy for The Standard
According to her LinkedIn profile (opens in new tab), Emge worked as a design assistant at Chantal Lamberto Interior Design in Presidio Heights. The firm did not respond to a request for comment. A family member declined to comment.
On his LinkedIn profile (opens in new tab), Wood describes himself as an “independent pre-event site security adviser” who does assessments for “events with VIP attendance.” His profile says he had worked on the White House’s advance team and has experience with the U.S. Secret Service. A White House spokesperson confirmed that Wood was employed as part of the Biden administration.
During Friday’s hearing, Wood’s public defender, Doug Welch, asked the court to release his client to the custody of a local relative. Welch said Wood was supposed to serve in the National Guard next week but clarified that it was not a current priority for him. Wood wore an extra-large orange jail shirt and bowed his head as he sat next to his attorney.
Hu ordered that, should Wood post bail, he would be placed on electronic monitoring and enrolled in the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office’s electronic monitoring program. Additional conditions include a prohibition on leaving the state without court permission and an agreement to waive extradition if arrested outside California.
Hu set a bail review hearing for Wednesday. A separate hearing was scheduled for April 9 to address the pretrial services conditions, including passport forfeiture.
