The Chronicle is reporting this morning that two shootings took place on Geary Boulevard on Sunday night around 7:20pm.
The first was a single shot at Star India Restaurant at 3721 Geary near Arguello, which shattered the glass, startling diners and staff.
A few minutes later, a bullet shattered the front window at Assab Eritrean Restaurant at 2845 Geary near Collins Street.
No one was injured in the shootings and the shooter(s) is still at large. Police are investigating whether the shootings were related.
No threats were made against the restaurants prior to the shootings.
Note: This story was updated 2/28/17 1:41pm to correct the date of the incident to Sunday, 2/26.
UPDATE: The Richmond District station newsletter sent out on 2/28/17 indicates that there were at least five shootings that took place on Sunday night along Geary:
- The windows to several Richmond District businesses were victimized in what appears to be a string of potentially related incidents. Harrowingly, several of the buildings were occupied at the time. Thankfully no injuries were reported. There have been at least five reported incidents of business’ windows being shot over the weekend. It is currently undetermined whether the damage was caused by a firearm, a BB gun, or another type of projectile.
Two of the victimized businesses were restaurants. Both restaurants had several customers inside at the time of the incident. Witnesses reported hearing the sound of glass breaking, and what appeared to be bullet-type holes were found in the front glass windows of the businesses.
These incidents are being aggressively investigated by the Richmond Station Investigations Team, and Richmond District Officers are vigilantly patrolling in the neighborhood. There is very limited suspect description at this time, and anybody with information is encouraged to contact Sgt. Kerow, Richmond Station Investigations, at (415) 666-8003, or call the SFPD Richmond Station Anonymous Tip Line.
Sarah B.
How awful.
Thanks for posting, I guess I’ll be eating delicious Eritrean or Indian soon!
Is it anti-minority bigots or gangs. I don’t think these two particular restaurants were selected at random.
Sure Greg, whatever you say. there’s no other crimes in the richmond, so these must be hate crimes.
@Adam F – Greg was asking, not confirming that is what happened. Gunshots are rare in the Richmond, and given the current political climate, even in SF, it’s not unreasonable to wonder if there is a motive like that.
Those restaurants were all roped off and had a ton of police cars in front on Sunday evening when I went by. Are you sure this shooting happened on Monday night? If so, what the heck was going on Sunday night and was it related?
This is NOT who we are SAN FRANCISCO! ?
Ah, just ready the Chron article. These did indeed happen on Sunday night. The headline on this blog post is incorrect.
Going to be hard to come to any conclusion without some evidence.
Would be interested to know if the restaurants are in any way related. If they are not, then that could help point in the direction of either something completely random or a hate crime. Although random drive by shootings seem very unusual for this ‘hood.
@David – Thanks, we updated the post.
The only restaurant that could be shot at without being canned a hate crime would probably have to be Mel’s, I guess because they serve Caucasian cuisine?
@David – thanks for helping to rectify that mistake.
@kayvaan – I agree with your logic, I’d like to get more data.
It’s amazing that no one was hurt, it would be nice to know how much was possibly planned and the exact weapon used (if it’s indeed a handgun and if there are any shells, or whether those were expelled from a car or on the street).
Sounds like triads or Russians are setting up the protection racket … owners must be too scared to tell sfpd anything if they were already approached … doubtful hate crime … much more obvious targets than Indian and Eritrean …
Conclusions without evidence. Police don’t even know if the incidents were due to “a firearm, BB gun, or other projectile.” Could have been a gang member with an Glock or a kid with a slingshot. Let’s wait and see.
1. Many crimes are already solved through private videotape.
2. There is no prohibition against videotape in public spaces such as streets, where there is no expectation of privacy.
3. The cost of videotaping is minimal, and the value in crime-solving is maximal: we should install video cameras throughout the City.
If this turns out to be targeted, I wouldn’t be surprised. We have to face the fact that, even without this being a targeted case, the inclusive and friendly “San Francisco we know” has been dead in the water for quite some time. Sad reality.