SF police chief says recent violence gang related

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco police are looking for answers following a series of fatal shootings in the city's Visitiation Valley neighborhood. Three shooting incidents have claimed four lives in three days. The most recent victim was gunned down Tuesday night.

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr says the recent violence is gang-related, in one instance, a gang imploding on itself. Police are asking people in the community to step forward and "get these guys."

While police plot their next move, Wilma Arterberry makes the same move she makes every morning. She takes her granddaughter to the bus stop for the ride to school. Aterberry fears for her granddaughter's safety and for her own.

"In this last year here, I know of 15 kids that's gone," she said. "I've seen kids come home from funerals and want to fight. What are we fighting for? Why we dying? We don't have to."

A 46-year-old victim died at the scene with a gunshot to the head. The other was shot in the chest. He was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. Witnesses tell police two men walked up to two others in front of a building, shot him and ran to a waiting white four-door vehicle driven by a woman. There have been no arrests.

"This is not the way life should be," Arterberry said. "No kid, no neighborhood. I walk all of San Francisco&I don't want to see no kids dying. I don't want to go to teens' funerals. It's too hard."

She is also talking about Monday's double killing in broad daylight during a huge fight on Burr Avenue. An 18-year-old connected to Burr Avenue was found dead in Diamond Heights Sunday morning.

Police commissioner and Omega Boys Club founder Dr. Joe Marshall, Ph.D., says homicides have been down for the last three years running. He calls this an "outbreak' and hopes it will soon be over.

"I always say urban violence in like cancer remission, it goes away, but the cells that created it are still there, so the gangs are still there," Marshall said.

Terry McSweeney contributed to this report

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portola valley, crime, shooting, visitacion valley, SFPD, gang violence, san francisco news, heather ishimaru

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