The man who shot himself to death in front of the Mission police station on Monday turns out to have been Eric Swenson, 64, an icon in skateboarding and co-founder of Thrasher magazine. Along with the late Fausto Vitello, Swenson opened skateboard equipment company Independent Trucks in San Francisco in 1978. Three years later, the two of them along with Kevin Thatcher founded Thrasher.
Add: Vitello’s widow tells the Chronicle’s Henry K. Lee that Swenson was “one of the most independent persons I’ve ever known. He was like John Wayne. He kept everything close to the vest.”
