Two Dead After Saturday Fight at Holly Courts

/ Todd_Lappin

Very bad incident on Saturday evening at the Holly Court housing project. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

A brawl that broke out during a birthday party in a public housing project in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood led to the fatal shootings of two men and the wounding of a third, witnesses said Sunday.

The shootings happened about 7:20 p.m. Saturday on the 100 block of Appleton Avenue at the Holly Courts housing project. Police revealed few details, but neighbors said the incident had grown out of a fight.

A man was being beaten up by four men when a friend of the victim fired a gun into the air, presumably to scare the assailants, said a neighbor who declined to give her name because she feared for her safety.

Friends of the assailants then converged on the scene and began firing back, she said.

The SF Appeal reports the incident happened near 192 Appleton. KTVU suggests the shooting may have stemmed from long-simmering tensions between several residents of Holly Courts.

Over on Bernalsafe, neighborhood activist Buck Bagot writes:

Unofficial report. Very large Saturday night party, lots of outsiders. Homicide investigating. Expect greater understanding in a couple of days. Besides seeing the shooters convicted, a question for the Police and Bernal might be- was it an isolated incident, or is that area an ongoing problem? Are any units a base for criminal and violent activities? If so, we could and should work to have the residents of those units – private or public – removed. The BHNC Bernal Public Housing Work Group meets on a regular basis with SFPD and the Housing Authority, and might provide a place to develop and pursue a strategy. It looks like the Captain will appoint a couple of Bernal residents to the Ingleside Community Advisory Board. We could also pursue any strategy there as well.

UPDATE: The victims have been identified as Pacific “Jerry” Som, 21, and Rathanak Chea, 26.

16 thoughts on “Two Dead After Saturday Fight at Holly Courts”

  2. The oval thing is the Holly Park Reservoir.

    Also, there is a neighborhood watch group that has been meeting and communicating (through a yahoo group) regarding violence and car traffic safety in the area (which also includes residents from Holly Courts). I don’t feel comfortable publishing the address but we’re organized as Highland Watch through http://www.sfsafe.org – if anyone is interested.

  3. Ah. Thank you– when Judgment Day comes on Saturday, I’ll know where to refresh my water supplies!

  4. Really commendable community involvement by the Bernalsafe group. Those are exactly the right questions and approach.

  5. A community meeting regarding this shooting will be held on Wed. 5/18/11 at 6pm at the Bernal Heights Community Center, 2nd floor (515 Cortland Ave.)

  6. the most sad part about this, for me, is that across the street is the kindergarten annex for J. Serra and my child’s former preschool less than half a street down. Not that a party would be going on during school hours, but, not too long ago, a dude was shot up in his car at the end of Appleton on HP circle, just an hour or so after the extended day was over.

    There is the “100 Highland” gang in those buildings. I have seen their tags, and have reported them.

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  11. We r not a gang we r a social circle. Some of us have been friends since elementary school n even b4. We dont claim a color. Do ur homework b4 yall start talkn bout shit u dnt no about. Been in holly courts since 84. The whole incident was not gang related nobody was geting jumpd none of that shit is true.

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