David Morales, a 19-year-old San Francisco resident, was identified by police as the driver whose car collided with another and caused two deaths Tuesday morning. Police said the driver shot at three pedestrians near Valencia Gardens at 14th and Guerrero streets, then fled from authorities as they attempted to make a traffic stop.
The collision, which left two people dead and one seriously injured, occurred at 21st Street and South Van Ness Avenue.
Police said that Morales is a gang member but would not say which gang. He was booked into county jail on two charges of murder, three of attempted murder, one of evading a peace officer, and one of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm with a gang enhancement.
Police would not disclose Morales’ felony history.
A video shot by a Mission resident seconds after the collision shows police surrounding the vehicle and arresting a suspect.
Morales, who was also injured and taken to San Francisco General Hospital, was taken into custody shortly after the crash.
On Tuesday, police responded to a call of a shooting from a black four-door vehicle near Valencia Gardens at 14th and Guerrero streets at about 7:45 a.m. Morales confronted three pedestrians and shot at them with a handgun, according to police. The officers saw the vehicle a few blocks away and attempted a traffic stop.
The black vehicle drove away at high speed as an officer approached the vehicle on foot, according to Carlos Manfredi, the police department’s media relations officer. There was no pursuit.
A few blocks away, as it was heading northbound on South Van Ness, the suspect’s vehicle hit a car that in turn hit the northeast corner of a convenience store on 21st Street and South Van Ness Avenue. A pedestrian who was walking into the store was struck by the vehicle that had been hit and was pronounced dead at the scene, said Manfredi.
Mission Local spoke with Eyad Ibrahim, the owner of Muzio’s Wine Liquor, the corner store that was hit by the vehicle.
“The white car hit my door,” Ibrahim said. “It took it off the hinges.” The damaged door has been replaced by a large piece of plywood.
Ibrahim said he didn’t know the pedestrian who was struck while walking near the store.
“There was yellow tape all around,” he said. “Nobody could come in until 2:30 p.m.”
Shards of glass were still scattered around the corner Wednesday morning, and a small memorial with candles was set up near the entrance.
The driver of the vehicle that Morales allegedly hit was upgraded from critical to serious condition today. He is 18 years old, according to police.
The other victims were the 26-year-old pedestrian and a 29-year-old woman who was the passenger of the second vehicle.
“Well, it’s bad,” Ibrahim said of the victims. “To start the new year like this, it’s really sad.”
This same David Morales pulled a gun on my 16 yr old son last year. My son wanted to do something about it but I told him “Don’t worry, karma will take care of him.” I guess that day has come.
On the other hand, I happen to know David Morales had a younger brother that had special needs, who he took very good care of. I can’t help but feel sorry for him now…. another unintended victim. He’s gonna get what he deserves.
so do something about now its the moment you should talk to the detectives…. so they can keep this person more years in jail!
silvia have a child who was coming to see her and now waht??? this poor child never in his life will get a hug from his mom i hope somebody tell morales this !!!!!!
Morales should not be on the street anymore…. if he killed 2 people now…. hink how many in the future???… hopefuly he will spend the rest of his life in prision!!!!!!!!! the judge will be on our size since all those killing around the country
The store has places to donate cash for the victims families.
I stopped and took a picture of the memorials, two people killed because of some losers false notion of manlyness.
An old guy walked by and we talked for a sec about how it could have been us standing out there, getting ran over by this guy while going about our business.
I am not sure how just yet… but I am pretty sure hipsters and gentrification are to blame for all this, right?
David Morales was a felon and gang member known by the SFPD.
Apologies is this is double posted.
The suspect is obviously presumed not guilty and entitled to a vigorous defense.
That said, assuming a jury of his peers convicts him of the acts alleged in this article, Morales deserves to die in prison. His warped belief that his violent pursuit of adversaries trumps the safety of so many others is truly shocking and utterly horrifying.
I hope prosecutors make it clear to other (alleged) gang members that if they engage in this kind of wanton disregard of life they will not get a second chance at living among the rest of us.
The post above from reader Andy is right on target. Was Morales on probation? If so, is it possible for Mission Local to find out what kind of supervision he was getting in the weeks leading up to his arrest?
I agree society should hold the driver completely responsible for his actions. The DA will decide on the charges that are unlikely to be murder, and a jury will render a verdict.
One clarification, however. I don’t believe that Morales was in “violent pursuit of adversaries,” but that he was fleeing the police.
If the accident was in furtherance of premeditated attempted murder, that’s probably an aggravating factor that the DA should use to get as stiff a sentence as possible. The callousness alleged in this article is no less heinous because this guy was fleeing the cops.
I’ll admit I was wrong, since the DA charged Morales with two counts of murder.
The suspect is obviously presumed not guilty and entitled to a vigorous defense.
That said, assuming a jury of his peers convicts him of the acts alleged in this article, Morales deserves to die in prison. His warped belief that his violent pursuit of adversaries trumps the safety of so many others is truly shocking and utterly horrifying.
I hope prosecutors make it clear to other (alleged) gang members that if they engage in this kind of wanton disregard of life they will not get a second chance at living among the rest of us.
The post above from reader Andy is right on target. Was Morales on probation? If so, is it possible for Mission Local to find out what kind of supervision he was getting in the weeks leading up to his arrest?
Truly tragic. Good information in the story, on a felon who possessed and used a gun to commit a crime even though there are laws preventing him from obtaining one. More questions…as a 19-year-old felon, he was likely on parole, using simple arithmetic. Who was his parole officer? What was his check in history, and since he was obviously violating at least one criminal statute, why was his parole not revoked? What was he doing on the street in the first place?