Woman killed in shooting on Pier 14

Police investigators at Pier 14 on San Francisco's Embarcadero about 90 minutes after a woman was shot on the long narrow pedestrian pier. The people sitting on the left are passers-by who were on the scene when the fatal shooting occurred. less Police investigators at Pier 14 on San Francisco's Embarcadero about 90 minutes after a woman was shot on the long narrow pedestrian pier. The people sitting on the left are passers-by who were on the scene ... more Photo: John King, The Chronicle Photo: John King, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 25 Caption Close Woman killed in shooting on Pier 14 1 / 25 Back to Gallery

San Francisco’s Embarcadero, one of the city’s most popular destinations for Bay Area residents and visitors, was the scene of a shooting Wednesday evening that left a woman dead and a man detained for questioning as a person of interest.

The fatal incident occurred at around 6:30 p.m. on Pier 14, a pedestrian pier atop a breakwater south of the Ferry Building and Mission Street. Officers responding to calls found a woman with a gunshot wound in the upper torso, according to Officer Carlos Manfredi, a police spokesman.

The woman was transported in critical condition to San Francisco General Hospital, where she died shortly before 8:30. She was from Pleasanton and was 31 years old.

Witnesses on the scene heard no argument or dispute before the gunfire, according to Manfredi, which suggests that the incident was random. However, he stressed during a news conference at the scene that the investigation was still in its preliminary stages.

By the time Manfredi met with reporters, police who descended on the area had found a man hiding on the Embarcadero at Townsend Street, one block north of AT&T Park. He matched the description of a person of interest who had been on the long, narrow pier at the time of the shooting, and he was held for questioning. No information about him was released, and he has not been charged. No other person of interest is being sought.

“It appears she was here with family,” Manfredi said, standing in front of yellow police tape on a promenade that attracts thousands of strollers and joggers each day. Behind the tape, sitting on benches, were a dozen or so people who had been on or near Pier 14 at the time of the shooting. They had been questioned but remained on hand in case they were needed by investigators.

Asked the last time that such a shooting had occurred in the area, Manfredi paused for a moment and then said, “It doesn’t happen often.”

John King is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron