Dolores Park Neighbors Worry About Increasing Violence After Daytime Shooting
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- Police are still searching for a gunman who shot a man in the stomach in Dolores Park on Sunday and took off.
On Monday at the popular park, there were no signs left of the crime scene from the night before. Parents played with their children and neighbors picnicked in the grass, enjoying sunny skies and sweeping views of the city.
"It made it feel uncomfortable, made it feel unsafe, I guess," neighbor Jonathan Morgan said.
He heard gunshots Sunday but says they were related to another shooting on 16th St. and 20th St. near the Mission Police station.
"It just seemed a little crazy yesterday, it was one after the other," Morgan said.
The President of the Mission Dolores Neighborhood association is calling for additional foot patrols near the Miguel Hidalgo statue where the shooting happened. The victim suffered non-life threatening injuries.
The neighborhood is no stranger to violent crime--in fact, San Francisco spent $250,000 on security cameras following a triple shooting in the area in 2017. The cameras were intended to deter crime.
Additionally, Dolores Park patrons regularly leave trash behind after busy weekends. Neighbors say it comes with the territory.
"There's occasionally people who make me a little uncomfortable around here, but that's also the nature of being in a city," Justin Lippi said.
Morgan says he sees it as more of a big picture San Francisco problem. He says the violence will improve when conditions for people living in the city do.
"Extra policing or anything like that is not going to do anything...until the underlying economic issues are addressed, it's not really going to change anything," Morgan said.
San Francisco Police Department's gang task force is investigating the shooting. They do not have a description of the suspect.