Shootings Kill 3 Over The Weekend

Police believe 3 shootings were impulsive acts

Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 21, 2009

(04-20) 15:36 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Three young men killed in San Francisco since Friday apparently were victims of spontaneous gun violence, police said Monday.

"These aren't gang-related - these are people out with guns," said Lt. Mike Stasko of the San Francisco Police Department's homicide detail. "The victims don't have criminal records as far as we know."

The first victim, Norris Bennett, 21, wanted to make something of his life - his dream was to start his own business and run a group home.

To fulfill his dream, he was taking business classes at San Francisco City College while working part time teaching recreational activities at a senior housing complex in Daly City.

After finishing his shift Friday afternoon, Bennett went to his neighborhood near Griffith Street and Navy Road in Bayview-Hunters Point.

He was shooting dice with friends when someone shot him at 4:40 p.m., police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

"He was a real good kid," said Marcelia Blue, a manager at the senior complex where Bennett worked since January and a friend of his family. "He was bright, he had a future - he wanted to own a group home and help teens."

Although police say they need help solving the killing, Blue wasn't optimistic they would get it. "Somebody knows something," she said, "but nobody is going to say nothing."

Alexander Apalit of Daly City was shot about 9:15 p.m. Saturday at Otsego and Santa Ynez avenues in the Mission Terrace neighborhood near Balboa Park. He died at San Francisco General Hospital.

Like Bennett, Apalit was 21 and had a job, working as an automotive technician. He also had started a business with his cousins, running party buses.

Saturday night, Apalit was in a car with friends who were being chased by a sedan described as similar to an Infinity Q35, with five people inside, police said.

A person who was in the four-door sedan with tinted windows opened fire, hitting Apalit, who was in the backseat.

Police are unsure whether the gunman got out or fired from inside the car. They also do not know why Apalit and his friends were being chased.

Police said his friends drove Apalit to St. Luke's Hospital, where doctors tried to stabilize him. The hospital is not equipped to handle patients with gunshot wounds, so Apalit was taken by ambulance to San Francisco General, where he died.

Shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday, James Jamonte Turner, 23, of Richmond was shot at Third and Folsom streets in the South of Market.

Three men were seen fleeing the scene, police said. Turner was taken to San Francisco General, where he died.

Turner was apparently with friends at the time of the attack. He may have been the victim of a robbery or gotten into an argument on the street, possibly after going to a nightclub, Stasko said.

No arrests have been made in any of the killings, and police said they need the public's help to identify suspects. They ask that anyone with information call the homicide detail at (415) 553-1145.

article link