A day after San Francisco 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall was shot and injured in an attempted robbery at Union Square, tourists and locals alike expressed a mix of concern and resolve about safety in the city’s popular shopping district.
Joseph Vu, who frequents the area for gym visits, wasn’t surprised by the incident. “It happens all the time,” Vu said while stopping at Geary Street and Grant Avenue.
His friend Alex echoed the sentiment, comparing it to nearby neighborhoods. “We just see all the time but things are, as bad as everybody would say,” Alex said, referencing the Tenderloin.
Tourists Johanna and Oskar Hane, visiting from a town outside Gothenburg, Sweden, with their two daughters, were caught off guard after noticing police activity at a distance Saturday afternoon.
“We didn’t know what happened, obviously something,” Johanna said. “So I just watched the news this morning.”
Oskar Hane added, “Yeah, that’s part of why we chose this area to stay at the hotel because it was kind of safe, but I guess not.”
When asked if they had heard about the city’s reputation before visiting, Johanna Hane said “not like that, but more like you should keep your stuff close, not like violence.”
Despite the incident, the couple said they felt safe walking around and planned to continue exploring the city.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, en route to a Chinatown event, expressed shock at the shooting and wished Pearsall a swift recovery, before offering a measured perspective on efforts to combat street crime.
“There’s a lot of great work happening around Union Square, so it’s really tragic that this happened,” Wiener said. “This is probably going to overshadow a lot of the great public safety work that has been happening in San Francisco.”
Wiener, who noted recent passage into law of public-safety measures on retail theft, auto break-ins and the fentanyl crisis, said he will continue walking in the city’s neighborhoods.
“This is my home. I also understand there are people who don’t always feel safe,” he added.
“We as a city and a state have a responsibility to do everything in our power to ensure that everyone feels safe walking around our city. I’m focused on that, as are the mayor and the DA.”
Musician and designer Jared “DUCKWRTH” Lee, a former San Francisco resident, reflected on the city’s changes since he lived there from 2006 to 2014 while passing through Union Square to visit friends in Nob Hill and the Tenderloin.
“A lot of the businesses I used to know, I used to visit, everything is gone,” Lee said. “All you see is a high level of poverty. I feel like people are moving out of desperation. I’ve never seen it at this level, and this is a flourishing area, like Maiden Lane, you know what this is. But it doesn’t take but four blocks that way to see how it drastically changes.”
Police data shows a dozen robberies were reported within the last 30 days up to Aug. 29 in San Francisco’s Financial District, which includes the Union Square neighborhood. That data also tallies 186 in the year ending on Aug. 29, compared to 223 over the same period ending Aug. 29, 2023.
A San Francisco Police Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry about boosted law enforcement presence, but officers in patrol vehicles and on foot were visible along the shopping district’s streets late Sunday morning.