San Francisco subway practice capturing kills 1, wounds one other

One man was killed and one other was wounded in a capturing on a San Francisco subway practice Wednesday that ended within the metropolis’s traditionally LGBTQ neighborhood simply days earlier than Pride celebrations, police mentioned.

The capturing occurred shortly earlier than 10 a.m. on a commuter practice because it pulled away from a residential station towards the station within the metropolis’s Castro neighborhood. There, officers discovered two victims, one useless on the scene. The different individual, a bystander, was taken to a hospital with an injured knee, mentioned San Francisco Supervisor Myrna Melgar, whose district contains the residential Forest Hill station.

She mentioned witnesses reported three or 4 pictures and a “heated verbal argument” between the suspect and deceased sufferer. She mentioned the suspect ran out with different passengers when the practice stopped.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro District, mentioned the sufferer and suspect appeared to know one another.

“It’s cold comfort, but it does not appear that this was random,” he mentioned. “It was not someone who, you know, got on the train and just started shooting, which would have been even more horrible. This was horrible enough.” While authorities mentioned the capturing was not linked to imminent Pride occasions, the loss of life forged a glum begin to the celebrations at a time when members of the LGBTQ neighborhood are experiencing heightened threats, together with protests at libraries the place drag queens learn to kids. The station the place the suspect ran out is on the coronary heart of San Francisco’s well-known Castro neighborhood, which is internationally recognized for its LGBTQ activism.

“There have been horrible incidents around the country and even in the Bay Area. So people are nervous, and I’m sure this doesn’t help. People should be alert,” mentioned Mandelman.

Police offered few particulars Wednesday on what occurred or how many individuals had been on the practice, though Melgar initially mentioned on social media that the practice was packed. They haven’t launched info on the victims or the suspect however mentioned the general public was not in danger.

The capturing is believed to have been the primary ever on a practice with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency _ also called Muni. The company operates most public transit within the metropolis, together with trains, buses, streetcars and San Francisco’s iconic cable automobiles.

“The incident that took place this morning is unnerving and yet another reason why we need to do more to prevent gun violence,” Melgar mentioned in an announcement. “There are too many guns out in our society, escalating a verbal argument into a senseless death of a young life.” Erica Kato, a spokeswoman for the transit company, mentioned she didn’t know what number of passengers had been on board however famous that total ridership is about half of what it was earlier than the pandemic. She mentioned ridership to San Francisco’s downtown core is even much less.

The capturing comes simply 4 days earlier than San Francisco’s Pride parade, which generally attracts hundreds of individuals from world wide.

Still, sidewalk visitors was gentle Wednesday morning.

“Never heard of anything like this over here,” mentioned Deeno Nasher, supervisor of the Castro Smoke House. “It’s kind of concerning for this neighborhood because Pride is this weekend and they try to be safe and secure as possible, and for something like this to happen, kind of puts them on edge.” Police had been in search of a person described solely as carrying darkish garments and a darkish hooded jacket.

San Francisco police spokeswoman Officer Kathryn Winters mentioned all Muni trains and subway stations have cameras, and police had been reviewing the footage.

Subway service had been restored by the afternoon.