SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A man suspected in the shooting death of a woman at a busy San Francisco tourist destination has seven felony convictions and has been deported five times, most recently in 2009, a federal agency said Friday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had turned Francisco Sanchez over to San Francisco police March 26on an outstanding drug warrant, agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice said.
Officers arrested Francisco Sanchez on about an hour after Wednesday’s seemingly random slaying of Kathryn Steinle at Pier 14 — one of the busiest attractions in the city. People gather there to take in the views, joggers exercise, and families push strollers at all hours.
Sanchez was on probation for an unspecified conviction, police Sgt. Michael Andraychak said Thursday.
Kice said ICE issued a detainer for Sanchez in March, requesting to be notified if he was going to be released. The detainer was not honored, she said.
Freya Horne, counsel for the sheriff’s office, said Friday that federal detention orders are not a “legal basis” to hold someone, so Sanchez was released April 15. San Francisco is a sanctuary city and local money cannot be spent to cooperate with federal immigration law.
The city does not turn over people who are in the country illegally unless there’s an active warrant for their arrest, she said. Horne said they checked and found none. ICE could have issued an active warrant if they wanted the city to keep him, she said.
“It’s not legal to hold someone on a request to detain. This is not just us. This is a widely adopted position,” Horne said.
Steinle was gunned down while out for an evening stroll with her father along the waterfront. Police said witnesses heard no argument or dispute before the shooting, suggesting it was a random attack.
Liz Sullivan told the San Francisco Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1IuWbKw) the killing of her daughter was unbelievable and surreal. “I don’t think I’ve totally grasped it,” Sullivan said.
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. Authorities said he does not yet have a lawyer who could be reached for comment.
Sullivan told the Chronicle 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.
This story has been corrected to show the shooting happened Wednesday instead of Thursday.
So lets be the nicest city in the world and welcome people who commit crimes such as illegally entering our country numerous times with numerous felony convictions. Just let them kill innocent young women. And if the public and the police wouldn’t have been alert he probably would have taken more lives. I know of no other place with this policy but if there are lease let us all know so us honest citizens that are in this country legally can avoid all of them. I used to love San Francisco. I’m glad to know this about it so I can avoid it in the future. Good job nice guys! Disgusted.