CrimeWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) ― San Francisco's Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory community was in mourning Monday after a man was shot to death over the weekend outside his daughter's basketball game at the city's oldest Catholic high school.

The victim was identified by police Sunday as Terrell Rogers, a San Francisco anti-violence activist and father of one of the country's leading young players.

The fatal attack happened Saturday around 8:20 p.m. on the north side of Ellis Street between Franklin and Gough streets, near the Civic Center. At the time of the shooting, the Sacred Heart girl's basketball team was at halftime of its game against Archbishop Mitty High School of San Jose.

San Francisco Police Capt. Al Casciato said Rogers walked across the street from the school's gymnasium to a parking lot, where he was then shot several times by two men dressed in dark clothing who had approached him.

Rogers was pronounced dead at the scene and later identified by the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office. The gunmen fled the shooting scene on foot and no arrests had been made as of Monday, police said.

Investigators would not discuss motives, but said they do not believe it was a random shooting, and indicated that the 39-year-old father of two from Pacifica was likely the intended target.

Rogers' daughter Tierra Rogers is a heavily recruited junior guard for Sacred Heart, a two-time state champion currently ranked by USA Today as the top high school girls basketball team in the country.

On its Web site Monday morning, Sacred Heart posted a statement offering condolences to the "grieving" Rogers family.

"Out of respect for the grieving family, members of the SHCP community who have lost a father and husband, and to assist with the investigation of the crime, SHCP's only public comment is that our prayers are with the family of the deceased," the statement read.

School officials thanked fans, students, families and friends who were on campus when the shooting occurred and who "maintained calm while
exiting events at their conclusion."

Saturday night's game ended with a 51-34 Sacred Heart win.

Rick Gordillo, a parent of a freshman at Sacred Heart, said the school community is crushed and is wishing the best for Tierra who has been having a great year with the basketball team.

"I think it's tragic. I attended this school, my wife attended this school, my son, my brother. We have a long history in the family, and for us it's a tragic event," added Capt. Casciato.

Tierra's father Terrell had escaped the life of gangs and seven years ago co-founded the local nonprofit group, Peacekeepers, that works to reduce violence in the city's Bayview-Hunters Point district. He still headed the group at the time of his death.

Terell Rogers and the other groupmembers took what was once a housing unit in the Alice Griffith Housing Project in Hunters Point and transformed it into a safe haven for kids.

Neighborhood children said they would often go inside the Peacekeepers office and play video games. Rogers also held barbecues for the kids.

Leonard Howard, who described Rogers as his best friend, said the children looked up to him as a role model.

"Any time they had a goal they looked forward to, he'd look positive for them," said Howard. "If he could make it happen, then he would make it happen."
 
The SFPD urged anyone with information about the shooting to contact police Inspectors Antonio Casillas or Robert Lynch at (415) 553-1149 or the anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444.

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