Just hours after city officials called for an end to street violence by announcing a 24-hour ceasefire Thursday afternoon, a teenager was sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries following a fight near Mission and 18th streets that resulted in gunfire.

The shooting occurred around 3 pm Thursday after a “big fight” broke out near Mission and 18th streets. Witnesses heard one or two gunshots, as Mission Local reports. According to reports on Citizen, the teen was shot in the abdomen by two suspects wearing black masks who fled the scene.

Police were still determining how many suspects were involved, and at least one suspect was believed to have fled east on foot down 18th Street. Footage of the crime scene via Citizen shows the intersection taped off and surrounded by several police vehicles.

Per Mission Local, the victim ran into Homies Organizing the Mission to Empower Youth (HOMEY), a youth center at 2221 Mission Street, where youth staff administered first aid. While the youth wasn’t involved with HOMEY, he reportedly knew participants in the program.

“The youth team kept him alive until the ambulance came,” said HOMEY’s executive director, Roberto Eligio Alfaro, speaking to Mission Local.

Person Shot in Abdomen, Masked Suspects Flee Scene @CitizenApp

2225 Mission St Yesterday 3:08:05 PM PDT

Earlier on Thursday, city leaders called for a 24-hour ceasefire directed at local youth and street gangs, as the city has seen 14 homicides so far this year, compared to 4 in the same period in 2025, as SFist reported.

The Chronicle reports that there have been 29 shootings so far in 2026, compared to 26 last year, and firearms were involved in nine of this year's 14 homicides.

The investigation into the Mission Street shooting is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444, or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with “SFPD.” Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Related: Calling It a 'Crisis Point,' DA Brooke Jenkins and Other City Leaders Call For Ceasefire Amid Spike In SF Homicides

Image: Citizen app

• Despite informing patients it will soon be ending gender-affirming care for transgender youth last month, Sutter Health has reversed course. Families were relieved to discover that their trans children could continue receiving care through the network, despite the federal administration’s continued pressure to ban it. [KQED]
• The Vallejo City Unified School District voted to close three elementary schools this week, which include around 1,000 students and 100 staff members. The district cites a swift decline in enrollment rates, as the number of students in the district has gone down from 20,000 students in previous years to 10,000 currently. [KPIX]

• Hazie’s restaurant in Hayes Valley has seen a significant boost in business following a viral video involving the antics of an unfortunate drunk woman last week, which ultimately got her fired from her job at Strava. [KRON4]

National:

• Thousands gathered Thursday to honor the people killed and injured during a Hanukkah celebration last weekend at Australia’s Bondi Beach, the first day the park reopened after the attack. [Associated Press]

• Applications for Trump’s new gold card opened last week, geared toward enabling wealthy foreigners to bypass US immigration laws to the tune of $1 million, plus a $15,000 processing fee. [CNBC]
• After New York Governor Kathy Hochul banned phones in public schools in September, students have gone analog in the cafeterias, including playing Dominos and poker and listening to CDs via Walkmen. [Boing Boing]

Video of the Day:

The stunning City Hall Winter Lights display kicked off December 6 and runs through January 2, featuring a 10-minute show that begins with an homage to the history of City Hall, including the original architectural drawings by architect Arthur Brown Jr. projected onto the magnificent Beaux Arts structure. The presentation then transforms into a carousel of holiday-themed visuals that “fill the façade with warmth and color.”

Amplified sound is available every night except Christmas and Christmas Eve. Spectators can also access the playlist through the app. The show runs every half hour from 5:30 pm to midnight, every night through January 2, visible from Polk Street and Van Ness Avenue. — via Secret San Francisco

Image: SF Office of Protocol

The Board of Supervisors hosted a mock hearing Wednesday, where seven student legislators from local elementary schools reviewed proposals from four of their peers for alternative uses of Alcatraz Island, challenging the federal government’s laughable plan to reopen it as a prison.

As Mission Local reports, a group of third- through fifth-graders from San Francisco’s Tenderloin Community School, Bessie Carmichael Elementary, and Redding Elementary School, who all attend the 826 Valencia writing program, held court at City Hall Wednesday for the first time in the board’s history. The meeting was even recorded by the award-winning SFGovTV, but SFist was unable to find the video footage.

In addition to the seven child legislators, District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar and District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey (whose district covers Alcatraz) were also in attendance, along with the four kid presenters and the remaining students testifying in support of the proposals. Melgar, Dorsey, and the board clerk’s office staff educated the students on how a real hearing operates, including which buttons to push and protocol surrounding public comment and question-and-answer sessions, per Mission Local.

As to be expected, the four highly creative proposals involved a water park, a giant playground, and animal sanctuaries. Nine-year-old Allen Truong suggested that the island be turned into a bird sanctuary. “We need to keep them safe from vehicles that can crush them,” Truong said. “The birds deserve to have their babies in peace.”

“Our city animal is the parrot. What other birds do you think need protection?” Melgar asked Truong.

“Pigeons, I would say,” Truong responded. Indeed.

Dorsey mused that the proposed options were much more appealing than the reality. “I will say, I’m glad I don’t have to make a choice which one I would pick,” Dorsey said. “But I can confidently say that all of these are better ideas than what we have in the Trump administration right now.”

Image: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr

Related: Trump Still Barreling Forward With Certifiably Insane Plan to Reopen Alcatraz as a Prison

California Fifth Graders Take On Harmful “Sephora Kids” Skincare Trend, Challenge Lawmakers

With 60% in favor, the Boy Scouts of America voted on Thursday to allow openly gay youth in the Scouts. The 22-year-old ban was based on a quote from the organization's oath, which states, "On my honor I will do my best….to keep myself physically strong, mentally alert and morally straight."

While this is a coup for LGBT youths interested in scouting, it's not an overall win for LGBT rights. The Scouts also voted to continue their ban on gay and bisexual leaders.

"The Boy Scouts of America will not sacrifice its mission, or the youth served by the movement, by allowing the organization to be consumed by a single, divisive, and unresolved societal issue," the scouts said in a statement released after the vote. "While people have different opinions about this policy, we can all agree that kids are better off when they are in Scouting. Going forward, our Scouting family will continue to focus on reaching and serving youth in order to help them grow into good, strong citizens."

Reporting on the results, USA Today notes that the Scouts are predominately a faith based organization.

About 70% of all Scout troops are run by faith-based organizations, according to the Boy Scouts of America. About 37% are Mormon, 10% Methodist and 8% Catholic.

The issue has long been contentious. In 2000 the Supreme Court ruled that the Scouts could legally bar homosexuals from being troop leaders. The case centered on a gay Scout leader in New Jersey, James Dale, who was dismissed in 1990.

A similar case involving a gay Scout, Tim Curran, made it to the California Supreme. Curran a took a male date to his senior prom. The Mount Diablo Boy Scout Council then barred him from scouting activities and he sued. The California court ruled for the Scouts in 1998.

The proposal, which will go into effect on January 2014, was voted by more than 1,400 members of the organization's national council at a meeting in Grapevine, Texas. Following today's news, the crafty kids at The Onion published a bit featuring Max Lovell, 12, a fictional gay Buy Scout, who says, "This is great. I get made fun of every day for being gay, but now I’ll be called a dork, too."

All previous coverage on the Boy Scouts.

[AP]
[USA Today]
[Onion]

Castro resident Sean Ray, 42, was on his way home after taking part in the Pink Saturday festivities, June 25, when he found a gaggle of youths on his apartment steps. After a minor verbal dustup between the two parties, Ray was reportedly beaten and kicked by the ragtag group.

Seth Hemmelgarn of the Bay Area Reporter notes:

Ray estimated there were seven people in the vestibule of his building, drinking. There was one woman and several men "crowded in there," he said.

"They weren't Castro kids. They didn't seem gay at all. ... They weren't the usual people that would be there for Pink Saturday," he said.

They were very "thuggish looking," he added, meaning they wore "baggy" jeans and they were "young, hip-hop looking kids."

Ray said he pushed his way through to get to the door of his building.

"I told them I had to get in there. They said they didn't care," he said.

He said the woman wouldn't move and pushed back at him with her hands, so he pushed her away from the door with his hands. Ray explained that up until that point, he'd been trying to elbow his way through the crowd, rather than putting his hands on anyone.

After allegedly being "punched and kicked" by several of the trespassers, the police arrived. In a shocking twist, and after the assailants apparently scattered, the cops detained Ray.

BAR goes on to report:

The police helped him up and asked him if he was drinking. He said he'd had three or four drinks during the day, but he wasn't drunk. They put him in handcuffs and walked him down Market Street toward a van, without telling him why or where they were taking him, despite him screaming to be told, he said.

Ray doesn't know the officers names. He was taken to Mission Station and handcuffed to a bench for about an hour, he said. He also said that he told officers he needed to go to an emergency room, but nobody offered medical assistance or said anything to him. They also wouldn't let him call friends, he claims.

No word yet as to why Ray was treated like the criminal and not the victim.

[BAR]

Remember this guy? The guy who escaped from juvenile hall during recess, or whatever correctional facilities for the young call their break time? (Do you think they have "pizza Fridays" in juvie?) Well, he's still missing. And there's a Central Valley manhunt in progress for the allegedly murderous rapscallion, and the sheriff's office is offering up a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to his capture.

If you recall, the (former?) member of the Sureno gang (don't hurt us, scarlet periwinkle-wearing gang members!), Orozco "is the youngest person to be charged as an adult for murder in San Mateo County." He is accused of "participating in a criminal street gang in connection with the death of 21-year-old Francisco Rodriguez in Redwood City on July 12, 2005." Last month he escaped through a hole in the fence at the Hillcrest Juvenile Hall facility in San Mateo with the aid of his buddies. If you've seen him kicking it somewhere on Interstate Highway 99 between the Fresno and Bakersfield area -- where he is "known to have associates" -- do give the fuzz a call. Please.