Update: On Monday morning, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified the deceased stabbing victim as 42-year-old Valentin Hernandez Santillan of San Francisco.
At approximately 4 a.m. on Sunday, a man was fatally stabbed in front of the China Express shop at the corner of 24th and Mission streets, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
A small amount of blood was still visible at the scene Sunday afternoon. A San Francisco police spokesperson said officers responded to a call this morning, and found the man on the sidewalk in urgent need of medical care. Paramedics soon arrived on the scene and attempted to save the man’s life.
“Despite life-saving efforts by officers,” said the spokesperson, “the victim succumbed to his injuries, and was pronounced deceased at the hospital.“
The man’s name has not been released. According to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, the man was in his 40s and was pronounced dead at 4:40 a.m. At this time, there is no report that his assailant was booked.
China Express kept its doors closed for the day. Many people in the plaza were unaware that an incident had taken place that morning, but business owners nearby said the victim was a regular on the corner.
“He’s a good guy” said Sharif, proprietor of Walla’s Smoke Shop at 24th and Mission. “I feel badly for him. He was here every night, standing with his speaker, playing music. He has lots of friends.”
According to Sharif, the man would plug in his speaker to charge at the store, and had a generally upbeat demeanor.
Nancy Gutierrez, owner of Silver Stone Café, on the opposite corner, next to the BART plaza, called the stabbing a shame.
“The scene was taped-off when I got to work,” she said, shaking her head and chopping carrots. She opened up shop around 6 a.m.
“What I heard was the guy got out of his truck at the corner, and next thing you know, he got angry and stabbed him to death. The police only came when it was all already done.”
Standing outside Cafe Boheme, proprietor Awad confirmed that the scene was taped off until around 9 a.m., when more people started coming to the plaza. He showed a video of the scene when he arrived around that time. Police had taped off the corner and several squad cars were stationed in the street.
“They only bring out the yellow tape when someone dies,” he said.
SFPD said the incident remains an open and active investigation. It is the third killing at the BART plaza in the past year, following a shooting in December and another stabbing last August.
If ruled a homicide, the stabbing would be San Francisco’s 31st for 2023. Last year at this time, the city recorded 26 homicides.
This is a developing story and we will update it as we learn more information.
That corner is becoming very dangerous. I think the police should get rid of all the vendors, people sleeping on the ground or passed out. I live just two blocks from that area and it just keeps getting worse.
Jim, the violence is coming from those offended by the threat of what could could be any of us if we don’t shut up and put up with the terms of what our uncaring society asks of us to “earn” respect.
Since you don’t seem to have respect for those who have no place else than that plaza to earn enough money, with and for their community, I advice you leave the neighborhood since you have no heart for community, which is what this neighborhood is about.
Ya cuz the old lady selling fruit is a huge threat to everyone…let’s just take away yet more hardworking people’s source of survival…you need to understand there is scumbag thieves who sell s**t down there and there are legitimate street vendors who have been there for decades… street vending/sidewalk sales have been happening in SF since before the gold rush, this town was a Bohemian city for many years and selling/ bartering goods (acquired legitimately) does not do anything other than provide money to survive and give people a way to save $… unfortunately over the years alot of people (mostly out of Towner’s) have made it their mission to bring terrible etiquette and crime as well as stigma, scapegoatism, and ignorant misinformation for the world to see and hear…. resulting in dozens of honest, hard working hustlas, grandma’s, unemployable( for various health/life issues), struggling gen Z’rs and random poor people getting citations, dirty looks, gossip, and eventually- nothing. It’s almost as if people in the city would rather they go on welfare or beg then to come up with a way to make money independently. I watch people give the able bodied 25 yr old white boy from Idaho cash when he stands in the street and “flys a sign” (I call it begging), then goes into the zombie mode on 7th and mission sending all that money elsewhere but look down on and judge the SF native OG always pushing a 500 lb cart full of recycled goods to sell to the hood cheap so he can get a hot meal, tall can of beer and maybe if hes lucky a doobie from the weed club …..
VENDORS are not the problem, Individuals priorities, ethics, morals, character, and politics are. Oh ya and Global warming too , I mean why not we blame everything else on it…..lol ( just to end it on a laugh)
What’s happening at the plaza is hurting the legitimate vendors. Pre-covid I used to buy flowers there all the time; now I don’t go near the plaza unless I absolutely have to. NO ONE here has an issue with old ladies selling fruit. The drugs and stolen goods have to go.
It will only get worse if the city allows vending on Bart Plaza. Clean it up, close the plaza to congregating, biuild housing instead.
Does the district supervisor even comment on Mission assaults and murders anymore? Or is she busy trying to get a drug use site installed?
About 10% of all SF murders in a one year span all occurred adjacent to the same intersection at 24th and Mission. Two is a coincidence, three is conspiracy.
I love how critical you are about sf pd but go on about a stabbing in the same area. Can we all wake up ?
Try to walk down the Mission street sidewalk between 15th and 16th without being forced to go into the street.
Then,imagine if you were in a wheelchair trying to do the same. There is more room on a trail in an ant-farm than there is on the Mission street sidewalks with our free-for-all,anything-goes city vending program.
It is actually a miracle that there aren’t many,more serious problems.
The decent people that actually bothered to apply for,and pay for,their vending permits should have a safe,dedicated spot to vend from.The police should then look-out for and keep an eye on the permitted vendors and also run-off any and all unpermitted vendors. Don’t even think of telling me about manpower problems with the police department.
6-8 cops on foot with a simple,clear plan and permission to actually do their jobs could clean-up a good-sized area of Mission street if they were kept on the job longer than the usual few months.
Please let’s not forget the young man who died of a overdose in Osage ave. This is all connected.
Is that the third murder at 24th and Mission in the past 12 months, or only the second?
At least three. One was a shooting in December and then a stolen goods vendor knifed some guy to death in the BART station a bit before that.
The whole country is going to hell. No hope. Pandemic made people turn into wild animals. Animals need to kill to survive and now humans are doing it. Survival of the fittest. Last person standing wins. Sad. Police, government officials can’t do anything about these problems because there’s just too many stupid people in this country. Stupidity is the only thing that can’t be helped.