Police investigate gunshots during weekend sideshow

Police in San Francisco are investigating shots fired during a sideshow early Sunday morning involving as many as 100 vehicles.

According to police, officers first learned of the sideshow around 1:05 a.m., occurring near the corner of Barneveld and McKinnon avenues in the Bayview District.

At the scene, officers heard multiple shots and later found shell casings. Officers didn’t locate any victims and no suspects were arrested.

Sideshows in San Francisco have become an increasing concern for city leaders and police in the wake of a fatal Labor Day shooting in the city’s Excelsior neighborhood, which happened at the same time as an early morning sideshow involving some 300 spectators and 50 vehicles.

As a result of that shooting, 21-year-old Sacramento resident Cesar Corza Avalos died and two other people were injured.

Last week, police announced they’ve assembled a unit of officers trained to handle such events, and have deployed extra foot patrols and installed surveillance cameras in areas where sideshows have occurred.

Additionally, Supervisor Ahsha Safai last week proposed legislation that would allow officers to impound vehicles found to be associated with sideshows in the city, and also allow officers to arrest anyone found to be involved in organizing the illegal events.