Bullet hole left in a car parked on Banks Street. Photo courtesy of Neighbor D.
In the aftermath of the gunfire that erupted during a party on the 200 block of Banks Street last Saturday/Sunday night, Capt. Joseph McFadden from SFPD’s Ingleside Station says the incident was gang-related and that witnesses at the scene have declined to cooperate with the investigation.
Neighbor Sarah, Bernal’s volunteer liaison to the SFPD, shared these notes from her conversation with Capt. McFadden about the Banks St. incident:
The police believe a group of people affiliated with a gang rented a short-term rental (McFadden wasn’t sure which brand – VRBO, Airbnb, etc) for a party on Saturday night.
They advertised the party via flyers. Rival gang members noticed the flyers and showed up at the party. Police believe multiple people had guns, and a shootout ensued.
One person was shot in the butt. Amazingly, no one else was hurt, but houses and cars were hit with many bullets. Witnesses are not cooperating.
Separately, Capt. McFadden is rotating to a new Investigations unit, and the new captain of Ingleside will be Jack Hart, who starts on Saturday. He has been in contact with Supervisor Ronen, who is working with other government departments (including the one overseeing short-term rentals) to help with the investigation.
Anyone who has information about this incident is encouraged to contact SFPD via the department’s anonymous tip line at 415-575-4444, or text TIP411 with “SFPD” at the start of the message.
Bernalwood 
If an airbnb rental I hope airbnb notified immediately in order to block users in future from their platform.
Since they are both mentioned in this story, please advise if it was Vrbo or airbnb.
Thanks
A friend who lives on that street says that the owner of the house rents it out for short term stints 100% of the time. Solely a short term rental.
I live down the block & the fuckin police were called to shut down the party 10 minutes before any shooting began. Shit-ton of people + cars in the street. Multiple firearms: handgun(s) + automatic weapon. SF’s “Short Term Rental” regulation office is a total joke, for show only, underfunded and understaffed, meant to appease upset citizens while corrupt politicians like Ed Lee et al accept millions in campaign funding from corporate tech slime like airbnb — So done with the police & city agencies being reactive instead of proactive. This whole shooting crap could have been avoided if the cops had shown up & shut down the party when the were called BEFORE any shooting began.
You’re mad at the cops that they didn’t show up to shut down a party within 10 minutes of being called? The shooting took place at 1:40am. Why weren’t the cops called earlier, like at midnight? Sounds to me like you just want to be pissed at SFPD.
I see a VRBO on Banks. Of course I don’t know if this is the house, but if neighbors recognize it, perhaps you can contact VRBO or owner via the site. https://www.vrbo.com/911087#map
we don’t know if gang members party there, but it is priced criminally high
As of 10/19 it appears the listing has been removed.
I live on Banks one block south of where the rental is located and our block was shot up with bullets through walls and cars. We have a 3 year old daughter and I’m 8.5 months pregnant. The gun shots woke us up and the whole incident was very scary. Were these short-term renters properly vetted? If a homeowner is renting and is not on the property, the onus is on them to make sure they are renting to people that will respect this neighborhood and not endanger the safety of our community. In my opinion, they should make a statement apologizing to their neighbors and commit to prioritizing a better vetting process or changing over to a long-term rental.
I’m so sorry for the neighbors who were frightened or had property damage. I hope that you push VRBO/AirBnB to shut this person down. It’s really sad that folks who are impacted have to be the ones to push for enforcement. I also hope you find mechanisms to make the owner pay for the damage to your homes and vehicles, etc. The greedy-not-a-neighbor should have plenty of money given the outrageous rates these full time hotels in our neighborhood and the Mission charge.
Handing flyers out for a party is a good sign there is going to be trouble. First I’ve heard of a whole-house STR used as a gang honeypot, but it probably won’t be the last. Another great thing STRs have brought to San Francisco.
This situation finally got me to file a complaint about another full time short term rental in the neighborhood.
Here’s a link for any other neighbors who need it.
https://shorttermrentals.sfgov.org/complaints#7427
Yes, I found those directions as well and sent a complaint. I received the following useful response:
“Hi. Thanks for reaching out to us.
“The application to host short-term rentals, at this property, was denied last year, and we mailed a letter. They continued to host (taking listings down at times). As the listing was up yesterday, a notice of violation was issued (with penalties starting at $484 per day). We are awaiting contact from the property owner or representative and will require proof that they have cancelled pending reservations.
“Please let me know if you continue to see what appear to be tourists (guests staying for less than 30 days), if you happen to observe such.
“Thanks and sorry about this situation. As platforms begin removing illegal listings in the coming weeks we hope to greatly reduce the likelihood of such events in the future.”
We need to organize a community meeting in the neighborhood – possibly at the Neighborhood Center – to address this issue.
This should not just fade away as we all get back to our lives. Let’s get together to see what we can do to address issues of short-term rentals, guns, stolen packages, car break-ins, etc.
I have already contacted Ingleside Station about getting an officer to come to a weeknight meeting in our neighborhood and contacted the Bernal Height Community Center. I left messages for both last week – No response so far.