SF police respond to Mission gang violence surge S.F. CRIME

Women walk past a memorial shrine in the Mission District in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, March 3, 2011, at the scene of a fatal shooting last weekend. Women walk past a memorial shrine in the Mission District in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, March 3, 2011, at the scene of a fatal shooting last weekend. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close SF police respond to Mission gang violence surge 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Police beefed up enforcement in San Francisco's Mission District on Thursday in response to a burst of stabbings and shootings that investigators blame on the long-running rivalry between the Norteños and Sureños street gangs.

The Mission has been relatively peaceful in the past year, police and residents said. But last week, a series of attacks on Sureños turf culminated in the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Aldo "Trigger" Troncoso early Saturday at 17th and Mission streets.

Then on Tuesday, someone trashed a sidewalk memorial of flowers and candles for Troncoso. At noon the next day, investigators believe, the gang sought payback, as someone fired at least 12 bullets at a 26-year-old man on Norteños turf on Harrison Street near 24th Street.

One bullet struck the victim, who survived. Another went through a home's front window, although no one was inside, according to neighbors. No arrests have been made in either shooting.

"These gang-bangers suck, they really do," said Jay Boronski, 40, a graduate student psychotherapist and social worker who has lived near the site of the most recent shooting for nine years. "What if I wear a hoodie one day and walk down the street and am mistaken for someone else?"

Hours after Wednesday's shooting, interim Police Chief Jeff Godown called an emergency meeting of officers, gang investigators, community leaders and gang outreach specialists. The goal was to engage the community in cooling off the suspected gang battle.

Police Capt. Greg Corrales, head of the Mission Station, said stopping violence in the neighborhood is the department's "No. 1 priority right now. We're intent on making the Mission District safe for merchants, residents and visitors."

Also at the meeting was Supervisor David Campos, who represents the neighborhood. He said the improved collaboration between police and community groups that was evident at the meeting had contributed to the drop in gang violence seen before this past week.

"As important as the policing piece is," Campos said, "the ultimate solution is finding a way for these young people to see how misguided this rivalry is. To the extent that some of these kids long for a sense of belonging, there are a lot of other ways to have that and to feel connected to your community."

Wednesday's shooting happened in a corridor of restaurants, salons and other businesses that has been in the midst of rapid gentrification. Traditional Mexican bakeries and taco shops now sit next to gourmet coffee shops, ice cream parlors and trendy boutiques.

The area is also the subject of a civil gang injunction, obtained by City Attorney Dennis Herrera, that restricts the movements of dozens of alleged Norteños and prevents them from wearing red, the color claimed by the gang. Sureños claim blue.

On Thursday afternoon, a 19-year-old woman walked with her friends along Harrison Street wearing black clothing and big, bright red hoop earrings. She said she didn't "bang," but admitted she wore the earrings to represent the neighborhood.

The teenager, who declined to give her name, said she hated "that side," nodding north toward Sureño territory. "Scraps," she said, using a derogatory term for Sureños.

She acknowledged that the rivalry was senseless, but suggested it was deeply embedded in the lives of her and her peers.

"They're my homeboys," she said, referring to Norteños. "We're not in it, but we're down with it. We grew up with it. It's always there."