Mission killing ushers in gruesome tally

Faalogoifo, a 38-year-old Pacific Islander and Mission district resident, was gunned down at 25th and Folsom streets Wednesday night at roughly 11:15 p.m., according to San Francisco police.

A witness reported seeing Faalogoifo walking northbound on Folsom Street and then hearing multiple gunshots. When the witness turned around, he reported seeing the victim lying on the sidewalk, police spokesman Sgt. Steve Mannina said.

He was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with at least one gunshot wound and pronounced dead upon arrival, Mannina said.

With more than 11 weeks and exactly 80 days left in 2007, there is a strong possibility that it could be The City’s most homicidal year since the mid-1990s.

Following triple-digit murders in 1995 — 104 were recorded — The City’s deadliest year to date was 2005, when 96 people were slain. Along with 2005, 2004, 2006 and this year — even though it is not over — have seen The City’s four highest homicide totals in more than 10 years, according to police data.

This year, the bloodiest months so far have been January and July, when 13 people were killed in each month, according to data from the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. The calmest month was March, when just five people were killed.

Since 2005, The City has attempted a number of different strategies to cut its homicide and other violent crime numbers. In 2006, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, whose district includes Western Addition, Lower Haight and the Panhandle, passed legislation requiring police officers to walk more beats. The City has also posted surveillance cameras in troublesome areas.

Faalogoifo’s death appears to be the first since a particularly bloody Oct. 3, when three men where shot in three separate incidents.

* Year to date. With 80 days left in 2007, six homicides would tie the 2005 total.

dsmith@examiner.com