At least 10 shot at San Francisco Halloween party
Pastor Dale Morgan
At least 10 shot at San Francisco Halloween party*
Updated Wed. Nov. 1 2006 10:21 AM ET
The Associated Press
At least ten people were shot at a massive San Francisco Halloween
street party as the festivities began to die down Tuesday night,
authorities said.
The shootings occurred at about 10:40 p.m. in the city's Castro district
as authorities began sending home thousands of partiers under a new
curfew that was aimed at regulating the rowdy event.
Police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens told The Associated Press that two
people were being held for questioning, although it was not immediately
clear if they were suspects or witnesses. No arrests had been made.
One victim was listed in critical condition at San Francisco General
Hospital.
"We've had a couple of people going into hospitals on their own, and we
need to verify whether they were victims of that shooting," he told AP
early Wednesday.
The city took over the once-spontaneous and unsanctioned party four
years ago, after police reported five stabbings and several assaults in
a crowd of 500,000.
Officials and members of the district's gay community had begun to
complain that the party was not only attracting costumed characters out
for a good time, but also gay bashers who were driving away the city's
homosexual community.
On Tuesday night, city officials had ramped up the police presence by 25
per cent, slashed the number of performance stages from three to one,
and decided to end festivities at 11 p.m.
"We had the sheriff's department screening people for weapons and
alcohol. Obviously you have a major event -- a lot of different spots"
to patrol, Gittens said.
"I can't explain how this happened. Unfortunately it did happen, and we
are investigating to find out who is the cause of the shooting."
Eyewitnesses described seeing crowds of people dive to the ground after
hearing the sound of someone emptying their gun.
With files from The Associated Press