Double shooting in San Francisco's Haight-Asbury rattles neighborhood

SAN FRANCISCO - A double shooting in San Francisco Thursday left on man dead and another injured and the midday homicide, near the busy intersection of Haight Street and Masonic Avenue rattled the neighborhood, which has seen a rise in violence.

"We didn't hear anything, it came out of nowhere," said Gregory Kazzouh, a clerk startled by the sudden gunfire outside his window.

Bystanders rushed to take cover inside the market and Kazzouh called 911.

Outside, he could see someone bleeding on the sidewalk.

"It's sad honestly, this neighbor is changing for the worse," said Kazzouh, who grew up in the Haight.

"It wasn't like this a couple of years ago, and it's changing,. I don't like it."

As investigators worked the crime scene, the victim's body was covered by a yellow tarp. On Friday, the San Francisco Medical Examiner identified the victim as 21-year-old Samuel Jessop of San Francisco. 

At the police perimeter, some of his relatives arrived, visibly distraught and hugging each other in tears.

MORE: 1 dead, another wounded in San Francisco Haight-Ashbury shooting

In the volley of gunfire, a second man was hit and hospitalized, but details on suspects and motive remained scarce.

"I can't say that the people knew each other, we just don't know that yet," said Captain Christopher Pedrini, of SFPD's Park Station.

Pedrini is hearing from residents, alarmed that the upper Haight, once vibrant, is now  beset by auto and home break-ins and worse. 

"Generally it's a fairly quiet peaceful district, though we have had a couple of incidents recently that have people concerned," said Pedrini.

Many merchants on the corridor are clamoring for more police presence.

"There was a shooting down here two weeks ago and a guy got stabbed to death down here a few weeks ago," said Mike Bishop, who manages a retail store. "The police come and then they leave because they don't like DA Chesa Boudin, they don't think he's going to prosecute anyone so they don't want to do anything."

Bishop heard the shots from his store and came running.

"With police around, maybe the guy would have waited and got him on the next block," said Bishop, "but a police presence is preventative police work and that's what we're asking, we need it because we're going to get shot."

As the scene was cleared and the street re-opened, a U.S. Mail truck was towed away, one of its tires flattened by a flying bullet.

And by evening, people heading home were largely unaware as they passed a small sidewalk memorial to the victim, with about dozen candles burning.

"It shakes up my sense of safety but my sense of safety has been shaken up since the start of Covid so it is what it is," said Dustin Espersen, a 15-year  Haight-Ashbury resident who is soon moving to New York.

"I'm telling people be more aware of your surroundings," said Aaron Sanders, a neighborhood resident since 1968.

"I could have been here at the wrong time and it's happening too often, too many people, it's like everyone is going out a little bit scared," said Sanders.

The last shooting in the area, two weeks ago, was a block away at Haight and Central.

In that incident, one person was wounded, and several parked cars and a coffee shop were left riddled with bullets.

Police blamed gang tensions for that violence, and it's possible Thursday's outburst was gang-related as well.