Shooting shocks residents of upscale Hayes Valley neighborhood

Lorena Cortez, center, wearing the hat, and David Vel, in the sand colored sweater, enjoys a street side lunch at La Boulange de Hayas in Hayes Valley in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday October 10, 2014. Lorena Cortez, center, wearing the hat, and David Vel, in the sand colored sweater, enjoys a street side lunch at La Boulange de Hayas in Hayes Valley in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday October 10, 2014. Photo: Daniel E. Porter, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Daniel E. Porter, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 32 Caption Close Shooting shocks residents of upscale Hayes Valley neighborhood 1 / 32 Back to Gallery

Residents and visitors in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley were shocked and saddened Saturday after gunmen massacred four people who were double parked in a stolen car in the neighborhood late Friday night.

Police said the shooting, which happened around 10 p.m., was likely gang-related, and on Saturday stepped up enforcement around the district to prevent further bloodshed.

Shock from the killings, though, underscores how the 49-square-mile city’s deep-rooted issues of violence, which have affected communities for generations, often seep into its rapidly changing neighborhoods, which continue to be trimmed into more shopper-friendly niche districts.

“It’s really hard,” said new Board of Supervisor’s President London Breed, who represents the city’s Fifth District, which encompasses Hayes Valley and the Western Addition. “It’s heartbreaking to the community, and it’s heartbreaking toward the families. A lot of people are hurting right now.”

Breed, 40, was raised by her grandmother in public housing in the Fillmore and Western Addition neighborhoods. She said she has watched violence carry over to different generations in the area and knows the families of some of Friday’s victims.

“You can’t describe this sort of pain to lose someone who is your son, someone who is your brother, someone who is your cousin,” Breed said after speaking to a victim’s family Saturday. “This is really hard for them. It hurts me to watch them go through this.”

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr said authorities know the identity of the victims, but said he was waiting to release their names.

On Saturday morning, hundreds of residents and visitors flocked as usual to the upscale boutiques and restaurants along Hayes Street, the neighborhood’s main drag. In recent years, the area now better known as Hayes Valley, has evolved into one of the city’s posh shopping districts, tucked inside the Western Addition.

Three blocks south of Hayes, at Laguna and Page streets, police had crime tape roping off the gruesome scene of the crime, where neighbors described a hail of around 15 gunshots that left four men dead.

“It’s surprising,” said Redwood City resident Landon Fabianski, 19, a salesclerk at Triple Aught Design, a men’s clothing store on Hayes Street. “I thought it was more of an upscale neighborhood. I never thought there would be a shooting of that nature here.”

Heather Houston, 33, who was shopping along Hayes Street said, “It’s surprising that it happened so close to here. It seems like such a nice, safe neighborhood.”

But those who have lived and worked in the neighborhood for decades recall a time before Hayes Valley was “Hayes Valley.” Even today, those who venture one block in any direction from Hayes Street will find themselves in some of the city’s more rough-and-tumble areas, where gang violence is a constant issue for police and city officials.

“We have isolated corners, block by block, where there’s relatively high crime, drug dealing and groups versus other groups,” said 63-year-old Russell Pritchard, president of the Hayes Valley Merchants Association and owner of Zonal Home Interiors on Hayes Street.

“It’s not unusual for us to have drive-by, turf-related shootings,” he said. “For me, it’s part of the urban dynamic that exists everywhere in the country.”

Pritchard pointed out that Hayes Street used to be one of the worst blocks in the city. Before the 1990s, the Central Freeway bordered the district’s southern edge and housing projects in the neighborhood were havens for drugs and violence, he added.

The freeway was damaged in 1989 by the Loma Prieta earthquake and later taken down, replaced by the Octavia Boulevard on-ramp to Highway 101. Since then, the neighborhood has been slowly growing and improving.

“Now it is hip and happening,” Pritchard said. “But we still are and always will be part of the Western Addition. Just because it’s upscale here doesn’t change what’s a block away from us.”

Suhr said Saturday that police gang task force and homicide units are teaming up, so they can act quickly to counter any possible gang retaliation.

Meanwhile, Breed said she has been in close contact with outreach groups in the neighborhood and is working with law enforcement to make sure the killers are caught and off the streets.

“You just want the best for the community, and then something like this happens,” she said. “It’s definitely really hard to take.”

Evan Sernoffsky and Hamed Aleaziz are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky @HAleaziz