1 killed in San Francisco subway train shooting
SAN FRANCISCO — One man was killed and another was wounded in a shooting on a packed subway train in San Francisco Wednesday morning, police said.
“There was an altercation between folks who may have known each other inside the subway before it stopped in Castro,” said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro District. Mandelman said that while the person who was killed appeared to be part of the altercation, the second man who was shot and wounded is believed to have been an innocent bystander.
San Francisco police spokeswoman Officer Kathryn Winters said Wednesday’s shooting is believed to have been the first ever on a train with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency — also known as Muni. The agency operates most public transportation in the city, including trains, buses, streetcars and San Francisco’s iconic cable cars.
The shooting happened around 10 a.m. on a Muni train traveling between the Forest Hill and Castro stations.
“When the train stopped, the perpetrator ran out, along with all of the people on the packed train,” said Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who represents the Forest Hill neighborhood.
Police were looking for a man described only as wearing dark clothes and a dark hooded jacket. Winters said all Muni trains and subway stations have cameras, and police were reviewing the footage.
The station where the suspect ran out is at the heart of San Francisco’s famous Castro neighborhood, which is internationally known for its LGBTQ activism. The shooting comes just four days before San Francisco’s Pride parade, which typically draws thousands of people from around the world, and people are on edge amid a wave of threats to the LGBTQ community.
Winters said the shooting doesn’t appear to have targeted the LGBTQ community or to be connected to the weekend’s upcoming Pride events.
“The San Francisco Police Department as we enter Pride weekend is going to be staffed to ensure safety at all of our events throughout the weekend … to make sure that everyone is safe and has an enjoyable Pride,” Winters said.
Subway service was suspended indefinitely in the area as police gathered evidence and passengers were being shuttled on buses between Muni stations.
Danny Tran, a sales associate at Knob, a clothing store across the street from the Muni station, said it was “alarming” to hear of a shooting inside the city’s subway system.
“You don’t expect to go in and have a shooting in front of your workplace,” he said.