San Diego Police have released a composite sketch of one of the suspects that allegedly assaulted several people in a series of paintball attacks several weeks ago.
The first reported incident was Jan. 24 at approximately 10:20 p.m. at The LGBT Center in Hillcrest. A dark car pulled up and someone yelled gay slurs and fired into a group of about six people, hitting two of them. The incident at The Center was recorded as a hate crime because of the derogatory slurs.
The same night, two men walking on Howard Avenue at Idaho Street were fired upon. A few minutes later, another person walking on Howard near 30th Street was shot in the back by a paintball.
The sketch was provided by one of the victims on Howard Avenue at Idaho Street.
“We deplore the use of any anti-gay slurs or violent or threatening acts directed against community members and condemn all violence directed against any individual or group,” said The Center’s Chief Executive Officer Dr. Delores Jacobs in a statement.
San Diego Police are asking for assistance that leads to the arrest of the suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call 619-531-2000.
“These … incidents are proof that violence is still the way for some people,” said Don Mitchell, Executive Director of the Stonewall Citizens’ Patrol, a volunteer neighborhood watch patrol group operating in the highly diverse Hillcrest, North Park and University Heights areas of San Diego. “The police do all they can to protect our community, but they need our help. It is incidents like these that we wish to reduce, and we do that by being visible, educating the community and promoting awareness of violent street crime.”
