Shooting breaks midday peace on Market Street

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - Gunfire on Market Street once again crackled in the afternoon air Monday, injuring one man and forcing the temporary closure of a section of the street popular with tourists.

The victim, described as a black man in his late 20s, was shot near the intersection of Turk, Mason and Market streets just before 2 p.m. and made his way down Market Street to Fifth Street, where people came to his aid before paramedics arrived, according to San Francisco police spokesman Steve Mannina.

The victim was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Mannina said. No arrests have been made.

A city employee charged with washing the sidewalk after the shooting, who didn’t want to give his name, said blood streaked down the sidewalk for about 30 feet along the victim’s path.

The shooting comes after several similar daylight shootings in The City this year. A January car chase ended with an 11 a.m. crash, a burst of gunfire and a bleeding victim stumbling into a nearby business. In April, a man jumped out of one car around noon and fired into another near Eighth and Market streets. On May 11, during lunchtime, a man opened fire on a car at Fifth and Harrison streets. Later in May, Mission High School senior Jamar Lake was shot and killed at about 10 a.m. at Eddy and Laguna streets.

Monday’s incident began with a silver sedan heading east on Market Street, then making a U-turn after passing Sixth Street and pulling to the curb at the intersection of Turk, Mason and Market streets, according to police. A male pedestrian approached the car and spoke with the two people inside, police said.

Witnesses reported seeing the man run away from the car when one of the two occupants of the vehicle opened fire, hitting the victim in the leg. The victim ran to the intersection of Fifth and Market streets, an area popular for pick-up chess games, Mannina said. The sedan fled westward on Turk street.

Marvin Boykins was playing chess on Market Street near Fifth Street when he heard four shots ring out. People started scattering in the streets, he said, frightened that they might be hit in the crossfire. “I heard the shots and then saw a guy running,” he said. The victim fell next to a tree at the end of the block, he said.

Matt Carlson, who bartends at the restaurant Farmer Brown at Mason and Turk streets, said he heard the shots, but didn’t see any suspects or the victim. “There are fights on this block,” he said. “But a shooting is definitely uncommon.”

In a presentation on homicides before the Police Commission on July 11, Lt. John Murphy said more deadly violence than usual has taken place in the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods this year.

amartin@examiner.com

arocha@examiner.com

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