Sep 5, 2008 10:57 am US/Pacific
2 Dead, 3 Hurt In Latest SF Violence Surge
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
Separate shootings along the border of San Francisco's Potrero Hill and Mission districts Thursday night left two people dead and three others wounded — the latest in a series of violent attacks in that neighborhood that has left a total of six dead in the past two weeks.
Police said two men died and a woman injured in a triple shooting that happened about 9:45 p.m. near the intersection of 24th Street and Utah Street.
One of the dead men was identified as 19-year-old Noel Espinoza, a San Francisco resident, according to the San Francisco medical examiner's office. The other victim had not yet been identified. A woman who was with the men was also shot and was expected to survive; she was being treated at San Francisco General Hospital.
The three victims were standing out on the street when two men approached them and started shooting before fleeing down 24th Street in a minivan that was waiting for them, police said.
Earlier in the evening, a gunman opened fire on a couple who were sitting in a car with their four-month-old child in the back seat. That shotting occured about 6:30 p.m. in the area of 18th and Bryant streets.
The two victims were sitting in the parked vehicle along with the infant when they were shot; the child was unhurt,according to Sgt. Wilfred Williams.
The couple were driven to San Francisco General Hospital by friends and were being treated for injuries considered life threatening. One of the victims suffered a gunshot wound to the head, police said.
Williams said a man was witnessed fleeing the area in a compact silver vehicle.
At the end of July, homicides in the Mission District had actually been down compared to the same period last year, at seven in 2008 as compared with nine in 2007, according to Mission District police Capt. Stephen Tacchini, who presented a report to the San Francisco Police Commission at an Aug. 27 meeting held in the Mission District.
However, Thursday's fatal shootings mark the 10th and 11th homicides so far this year in the Mission District.
Tacchini reported that there was a definite relationship between the number of homicides and drug and gang activity in the area.
On Wednesday night, the San Francisco Police Department's gang task force was monitoring the Mission District for possible retaliation after the president of the Hells Angels San Francisco chapter was murdered a day earlier.
Mark Guardado, 45, was found suffering from gunshot wounds near the intersection of 24th Street and Treat Avenue around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said.
A 24-year-old man, Marcelino Canul-Castro, of San Francisco, was also fatally shot early Monday morning in the unit block of San Carlos Street.
On Aug. 24, 18-year-old Jorge Hurtado, of San Francisco, died after being shot at 23rd Street and Treat Avenue.
On Aug. 22, Samuel Mitchell, 47, of San Francisco, was fatally shot at 26th and Folsom streets.
No arrests had been made in any of the killings.
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