The San Francisco man accused of firing a bullet through a wall that killed his girlfriend has been released from jail.
Nation Wood, 25, was charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of 22-year-old Samantha Emge, who died at a hospital on March 24 soon after authorities found her wounded inside the Sunset District home.
His release from custody after posting $300,000 in bail was contingent on electronic monitoring, a no-weapons requirement and surrender of his passport. The terms of his psychiatric hold prevented him from leaving the facility.
“He’s not going anywhere,” said Wood’s attorney, Paula Canny, according to the Standard. “He’s heartbroken, filled with guilt, shame, remorse, sadness. He can’t really even articulate how horrible he feels for Sam’s family.”
Wood, who was self-employed in the security industry, had been handling a firearm in his apartment when it accidentally fired, a source familiar with the incident told the Chronicle last week. The bullet passed through a wall and struck Emge, who was in the bathroom.
Doug Welch, a San Francisco public defender who represented Wood during his arraignment last week, called Emge’s death a “horrific accident.” Wood quietly sobbed throughout that hearing, where he was supported by his father, his father’s partner and two uncles.
According to LinkedIn, Wood attended San Francisco State University for less than two years before he began working part-time on event and travel planning for the White House between November 2023 and July 2025. A White House spokesperson confirmed that he was employed during the Biden administration.
Emge graduated from San Francisco State last May, according to her LinkedIn profile, where she studied interior design. She held a design assistant position at the Presidio Heights firm Chantel Lamberto.