San Francisco police are investigating a car-to-car shooting Sunday along the Embarcadero that left six people injured, including two who suffered gunshot wounds.
Police said officers responded around 6:48 p.m. to reports of a shooting near Beach and Stockton streets. The vehicles involved then drove “very recklessly” south on the Embarcadero, said Police Chief Bill Scott.
Scott, briefing the media late Sunday, said three people were injured by glass shards and two people were hit by gunfire. In addition, two girls, ages 10 and 16, were hit by a vehicle as they were walking their bicycles across the Embarcadero; the younger one was injured.
One of the people hit by gunfire suffered life-threatening injuries and the other suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Scott said.
Scott described the incident as “a mile of chaos,” saying it was “very dangerous behavior, very dangerous driving.” However, he said the incident was “not random” and that the individuals in the car were targeting one another.
Scott said officers responded in four minutes. A black SUV crashed, and the two people who were shot were believed to be involved in the gunfire. Officers will be questioning them, he said.
Officers were seeking a white sedan, Scott said. The chief said officers “recovered a lot of evidence,” adding he expected the incident was captured on “a lot of video” and urged the public to share any recordings with investigators.
Car-to-car shootings have become increasingly common on Bay Area freeways but such an incident is unusual on one of San Francisco’s main thoroughfares.
“I was there on a run. It was terrifying, someone was driving down the street holding a gun out of the window and shooting,” wrote one Reddit poster. “Everyone along the waterfront was running to get behind a structure, it all happened so fast though.”
ALERTSF: Avoid the area of Stockton St between The Embarcadero and Beach St due to Police Activity. Emergency crews are on scene.
— San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (@SF_emergency) June 19, 2023
Expect traffic delays, consider alternate routes, and allow for additional travel time. For live traffic information v https://t.co/2VOKeDSkE5
Scott lamented that the incident happened on Father’s Day.
“There will be accountability. As I have said to you all, I have every confidence in our officers and our investigators. We are seeing these cases resolved. I am confident that we are on this case,” he said. “And the message is clear: You cannot and will not come to this city and commit these type of acts and walk away from here and get away with it. We will find you, and you will go to jail.”
He added: “These are very traumatizing types of events on a beautiful Sunday, Father’s Day, [that] we had this type of chaos in our city, and that’s unacceptable and that’s why we’re going to work until we find everybody involved in this.”
The chief urged those with information to call the police tip line at 415-575-4444.
The incident comes about a week after a shooting in the Mission District injured nine people.