Two men are dead and a third fights for his life after an early-morning shooting at one of San Francisco's most popular tourist spots, and a San Francisco Supervisor is blaming the deaths on a shortage of police officers.
According to San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Sergeant Michael Andraychak, officers were called to the Twin Peaks lookout at 2:06 a.m. Sunday.
When they arrived, they "located three adult males suffering from apparent gun shot wounds." Of the victims, a 19-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene, while a 18-year-old and a 21-year-old were transported to the hospital.
The 21-year-old has since died, Andraychak says, and the 18-year-old "remains hospitalized with life threatening injuries."
According to the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office, the man who died on the scene has been identified as 19-year-old Rene Mora, and the man who died at the hospital was identified as 21-year-old Julio Peraza. Both are residents of Santa Rosa, the ME's office said.
According to Andraychak "the suspect, an adult male, targeted these victims and fled the scene after the shooting." He has not been seen since, and no arrests have been made in the case.
KTVU reports that "It is unclear if the shooting was captured on nearby surveillance cameras."
Speaking to CBS5, District Eight Supervisor Scott Wiener appears to suggest that the shooting was a result of SFPD staffing issues.
Acknowledging that the area has recently been plagued with crime, Wiener says that "we've had some real challenges up on Twin Peaks, particularly auto break-ins, some violent crime, but mostly auto break-ins."
"We don't have enough police officers, we need more police," Wiener says.
Last summer, Wiener co-sponsored an ordinance requiring the SFPD to increase staffing based on San Francisco's uptick in population.
In July, Wiener argued that the influx of SF residents means SFPD needs to have a minimum of 2,279 police officers instead of the current minimum of 1,971 police officers.
However, a SF Budget and Legislative Analyst report released in January "determined that if the Police Department’s staffing level is altered, then it should be based on the department’s workload demands, rather than based on an increase in San Francisco’s population," the Ex noted last week.
“A minimum staffing level based on population is not considered a rigorous and analytical staffing method," the report read.
“The Board should request that any changes made to the minimum staffing level should be based on a workload-based assessment that accounts for department-specific conditions, as well as a comprehensive examination of historical workload data."