Five Detained in Fatal Shooting of German Tourist in SF
Five people have been detained in connection with a shooting Sunday night that left a German tourist dead and two others injured near San Francisco's Union Square.
Police officers and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom are crediting bystanders, including a taxi driver, with helping to identify the suspects. Newsom thanked the witnesses for cooperating.
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The five are all males from San Francisco. Two are minors, and a gun has been recovered.
They're being questioned in the fatal shooting of Mechthild Schroeer, a 50-year-old resident of Minden, Germany, who was killed around 9 pm on Mason Street, near Geary.
SF Police Commander John Loftus said the shooting happened outside a private party for teens.
"We're following up with a lot of video footage," he said. "Things are moving ahead."
The other victims, a 15-year-old male and a 19-year-old female, were taken to a local hospital. Their injuries are reported as being non-life threatening.
The five suspects, three adults and two juveniles, all males, were detained early this morning and a firearm was recovered.
The shooting was followed by a second unrelated shooting in front of 1015 Folsom, a club located at Folsom and Harriet streets, at about 1:55 a.m. Monday where two women were shot in their torsos and taken to a local hospital.
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Officials at the German consulate say they are shocked by the shooting, but they are still telling their citizens San Francisco is a safe city.
Schroeer and her husband were close by their hotel when the shooting occurred. They were in the U.S. for a vacation and planned to also visit St. Louis and Chicago.
The Deputy German Consul General, Eberhard Brockmann, says his office is doing what it can to help the family.
Brockmann says the couple has two teenage boys at home in Germany.
