By PATRICK KOLLMAN
The store clerk at Stagi Liquors said Saturday that around 10:30 p.m. on Friday he heard several shots coming from outside the bar El Tin Tan two doors to the west.
When the clerk, who declined to give his full name, peeked out he saw “two men helping the lady who’d been shot.”
Soon after, police swarmed the area between Valencia and Mission streets, blocking off Hoff Street and part of 16th Street.
While details remained sketchy, police said the shooting on the 3000 block of 16th Street occurred at 10:28p.m.. Two people were shot, neither sustained life-threatening injuries, police reported.
The suspects exited a vehicle and approached the victims. An argument ensued and several shots were fired, said police.
While no one said they had witnessed the crime, most neighbors interviewed on Saturday, said the victims fled toward Hoff St. The suspects remain at large.
Mike Pierce, the owner of Maverick, a restaurant on 17th St just west of Mission, said that customers arriving at the restaurant told him that there had been a shooting.
When Pierce went to his car on Hoff Street, the road was blocked off. He waited until around midnight before he could drive through the police blockade.
Store owners said they are accustomed to shootings and to avoid them, many close early.
“Twenty-five years ago my mom was shot right here,” said Juan Gutierrez, owner of The Sandwich Place on Mission Street across from the BART stop.
After the incident Gutierrez decided to begin closing his store before nightfall.
“That’s when I said ‘forget it— $400 isn’t worth it,” said Gutierrez.
Michael Timsh, owner of A-Z Pawn Broker across the street from The Sandwich Place, agreed. “We close at 5 at the latest. I’m not stupid. I get out of here as early as possible. This block is the worst part of Mission.”
While there have been no murders reported in the Mission this year, there were 15 non-fatal shootings in the neighborhood in the first half of the year, a 36 percent increase compared to the same period of 2007.