SAN FRANCISCO: Kathryn “Kate” Steinle was out for an evening stroll with her father along the San Francisco waterfront when she was killed by a man who police said she didn’t know.
The shooting occurred Wednesday evening while still light at Pier 14 — one of the busiest tourist destinations in the city, a place where people gather to take in the views, joggers exercise, and families push strollers at all hours.
Liz Sullivan told the San Francisco Chronicle the killing of her daughter was unbelievable and surreal.
“I don’t think I’ve totally grasped it,” Sullivan said.
Two television news crews reporting on the killing were later mugged at the scene, with a masked gunman pistol-whipping a camera operator. The robber took cameras from KNTV and KTVU before he jumped into a black BMW and fled.
Police said Thursday they had arrested Francisco Sanchez in the shooting about an hour after it occurred. Authorities said he does not yet have a lawyer.
Police Sgt. Michael Andraychak said witnesses snapped photos of Sanchez immediately after the shooting, and the images helped police make the arrest while he was walking on a sidewalk a few blocks away.
Police were still waiting for fingerprint identification on Sanchez, who is believed to be a 45-year-old whose last address was in Texas. He was on probation for an unspecified conviction, Andraychak said.
Sullivan told the newspaper that her 32-year-old daughter turned to her father after she was shot and said she didn’t feel well before collapsing.
“She just kept saying, ‘Dad, help me, help me,’” Sullivan said.
Her father immediately began CPR before paramedics rushed the woman to the hospital.
“She fought for her life,” Sullivan said.
Steinle went to high school and previously lived about 40 miles east of San Francisco, the newspaper said. She recently moved just blocks from the waterfront and worked for a medical technology company. (AP)
