An anonymous tipster just sent this in:
I don't know what just happened on Oakwood (frankly, it looks pretty bad), but some bystanders allegedly claimed it was a stabbing that “had to do with drinking at Dolores Park all day.” Just FYI.
No idea if it was related to the fight I witnessed earlier. I'll update if I hear more.
Update: Ryan just emailed this in:
Just came home to find 19th between Guerrero and Dolores completely shut down, as well as most of that segment of 18th. Ambulances, fire trucks and cop cars lined the street in front of Bi-Rite, with some kid on a stretcher with an oxygen mask. I talked to some girl who, choking back sobs, managed to tell me that someone got stabbed. I tried to console her but she was pretty traumatized. I walked up to some cops and was berated by one of them, but the other said they were dealing with a stabbing, and to go inside. I live right across the street and it looks like it occurred on Oakwood, connecting 18th and 19th, right next to the Bi-Rite market. Heavy.
Update II, from Jekka:
Update III with some additional thoughts:
There was undeniably some evil energy in the park today; quite unlike anything I've ever felt in the park before. It was so bad that for the first time ever, I actually got up and left The Park because of the atmosphere. And as Daniel tweeted, I clearly was not alone. People at the vista corner of the park even were joking, “when the messengers from One Post bail and come up here, you know shit's fucked.”
I'm not saying this because I'm scared or freaked out or packing up my bags to move to Walnut Creek. No, stabbings happen all the time in the Mission—it's terrible and inexcusable, but we all moved here knowing that. I say this because of what our tipster said in the first email. [It] had to do with drinking at Dolores Park all day.
We're assuredly going to hear in the coming weeks from the likes of C.W. Nevius, gray-haired neighbors, and “concerned parents and neighbors” about how it's time to cut back on the liberty we all enjoy and cherish. “Shit has being going too far for too long.” “A stabbing? What next? A SHOOTING?”
There'll be community meetings in which people berate Sup. Scott Wiener and the entire Parks & Rec staff. There'll be demands for SFPD to crack down on public drinking. I've sat in Dolores Park meetings exactly like this countless times—this aftermath is a given.
But what these people always miss—and this is important—is this horrible fight would have gone down no matter where these kids were drinking. It could have been in an alley, or Precita Park, or under a bridge off of Cesar Chavez. The truffles and the open containers on Hipster Hill were not the problem; no, an estimated 12 million people responsibly enjoy these liberties every day. And I've logged more hours with my ass planted on Dolores Park's grass than anyone I know and I've never once before been made to feel the park wasn't safe. The problem was these kids, specifically and individually.
So, please, let's not lose our collective shit over a couple of swine and ruin a beautiful thing.
Update IV: Here's the video I took of people fighting in the park earlier (in this video, they're chasing a dude out of the park). If I had to make a guess, these are the people involved, as they were fighting shortly before the stabbing (I took the video 9 minutes before it went down), breaking bottles, brandishing knifes in the park, and generally acting like shitheads:
Update V: Mission Local reports two people were stabbed:
Officers responded to a call of multiple stabbing victims at approximately 6:30 p.m. As of 10:45 p.m., officers were leaving the scene. […]
Officer Albie Esparza said that five people were involved in a verbal altercation that escalated into a physical fight that injured two people. […]
Esparza said that the suspects, who are described as being in their 20s, fled the scene. The only description provided by police was that one suspect was short and the other stocky. [link]
