Ann Mannix remembered as a trailblazer after Marin murder-suicide

Four decades ago, before she rose through the ranks of the San Francisco Police Department – ​​becoming the first woman to join and then lead the SWAT team – Ann Mannix worked as a manager at Toys “R” Us.

One day, her older brother came to visit her for Christmas.

Richard Corriea was then an SFPD officer, the last of a family whose service on the city force dated back to the late 1800s. Ann Mannix had considered another path, dreaming in high school of becoming a trauma surgeon.

“We were talking about what it was like to be a manager at Toys ‘R’ Us, and I told him what it was like to be a cop,” Corriea, now a retired commander, recalled Monday. “She joined a year later.”

She loved this work and she excelled at it. She is part of a new generation of police officers, joining the force just 11 years after the SFPD began hiring women to patrol the streets. By the time she retired in 2021, she was a well-respected deputy leader.

As new details emerged about the Marin County murder-suicide Sunday night that killed Mannix at age 65, those who knew her remembered a pragmatic law enforcement leader who broke barriers while remaining remarkably approachable.

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office said Monday its preliminary investigation indicated she was killed by her ex-husband, retired SFPD Sgt. Kevin Mannix, 68, who also shot and killed their daughter, Katherine Mannix, 24, before killing himself in the family’s modest clapboard home in Strawberry, east of Mill Valley.

Investigators have not discussed a possible motive. But a 911 caller, who appears to be a family member who escaped the home through a bedroom window, identified Kevin Mannix as the shooter and said he had been drinking red wine, according to emergency dispatch audio.

A friend of Ann Mannix, who had two daughters and a son, said she had recently talked about divorce and seemed positive about the future.

News of the deaths reverberated throughout the city’s police force, where Ann Mannix had built deep relationships during nearly 35 years in uniform. Police Chief Derrick Lew said Ann Mannix “served with honor and distinction.”

“She was a star and a great mom,” Corriea said. “She took on all the work, appreciated the teamwork and the service.”

Brendan Mannix, a former San Francisco police officer and nephew of Ann and Kevin Mannix, remembers his cousin Katie as an aspiring nurse who was following in the footsteps of her older sister, Lauren.

“Katie was the type of person who would text you randomly just to tell you she loved you or to encourage you when you needed it,” he wrote on Facebook. “She had such a big heart and a way of making people feel special. It hurts to know that she won’t be able to live out the dreams that excited her so much.”

He said Ann Mannix was a pioneer who “looked out for the women who followed her and helped open doors for them. I am very proud of what she accomplished and the example she set.”

Born in 1961, Ann Mannix was a fourth-generation San Franciscan. When she graduated from George Washington High School in 1979, she thought she could become a “famous trauma surgeon,” she wrote in her yearbook. “Otherwise, I’ll go into law or be a paramedic. I’ll live on a farm with all my horses.”

Corriea said her sister was a gifted athlete. She played softball, threw the javelin and skied, but basketball was her strongest sport, which earned her a scholarship to play at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

“She was kind, very confident, and her athletic prowess was absolutely remarkable,” he said.

Ann Mannix joined the police department in September 1986 as a member of the 163rd Academy Class. In those early years, she worked at the cemetery and, despite the danger of the job, said in a 1989 interview with the Chronicle that she had fun. She remembers one night when she hid for cover as automatic weapons fire rang out nearby.

By this point, she had married Kevin Mannix, then an investigator for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

“I still want the American dream: a house, kids,” she said. “But this work is very interesting. I think people are starting to realize that women can really do it. I think I can.”

Yulanda Williams, retired SFPD acting captain, said Ann Mannix championed women in the department and helped them advance to key leadership positions. “She was not a self-centered, selfish person,” Williams said. “She looked out for others.”

Zeny Relampagos, a longtime department secretary who retired in 2016, said Ann Mannix remained approachable even after reaching the highest ranks. “She stayed the same,” Relampagos said. “She treats everyone the same.”

Ann Mannix was promoted to lieutenant in 2003, captain in 2009, commander in 2015 and deputy chief in 2018. She then led the field operations and special operations offices before retiring in 2021.

As Ann Mannix was about to retire from the SFPD and collect her pension, she considered applying for a deputy chief position at BART. She called former BART Police Chief Gary Gee and had a few conversations about the transit agency, he said, although she never ended up working there.

Tony Montoya, a retired sergeant and former president of the officers’ union, recalled Ann Mannix as intelligent, professional and “focused on the issue at hand.”

Montoya said he doesn’t remember anything about Kevin Mannix’s time with the department that might indicate cause for concern. He said Kevin Mannix never sought attention, while trying to bring levity to any situation.

“He was always well-liked, always had a smile on his face and was easy to talk to,” Montoya said. “Never since I’ve been at POA has his name come up on my desk in a negative context. … my jaw is on the floor, like everyone else.”

Gee, too, was stunned by the violence. When Kevin Mannix worked at the SFPD’s Taraval station, Gee was a neighborhood resident and member of the station’s advisory board, and he remembered the sergeant as “well-liked and respected.”

City Supervisor Matt Dorsey said in a statement that he would “explore what more San Francisco can do to address the behavioral health concerns of our emergency responders, including those who have retired. The stress and trauma of public safety careers does not necessarily end with retirement, and our commitment to those who have served should not end there either.”

The loss was difficult to understand for Marie Hurabiell, a San Francisco political activist who has partnered with Ann Mannix in recent years, including in a series of discussions about the search for a new police chief. She said Ann told her that she and Kevin Mannix were divorcing.

“It’s beyond imagination. I’m so sad. It’s a huge loss for everyone who knew her,” said Hurabiell, who ran unsuccessfully to succeed Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi with the support of Ann Mannix.

“She was such a voice of reason,” Hurabiell said. “She was so practical and caring and kind.”

Hurabiell said she was thinking especially of Mannix’s surviving children. “How can we move forward in the face of this kind of tragedy? she asked. “Your mother and sister were killed, and it was your father who killed them?”

Ann Mannix continued to maintain her connection to the department and to San Francisco after her retirement. On Sept. 3, she reflected on graduating from the police academy four decades ago, writing on Facebook that she felt grateful.

Last Wednesday, she watched the Golden State Valkyries defeat the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA playoffs at Chase Center. On Sunday, she posted photographs of the Blue Angels flying over San Francisco during Fleet Week.

“I never tire of the show,” she wrote.

Brooke Park contributed reporting.