SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5/BCN) — The owner of a corner market in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury neighborhood shot and critically wounded a customer Tuesday, apparently in a dispute about the customer bringing his Chihuahua into the store, police and witnesses said.
The shooting occured about 1:15 p.m. at Fred’s New Lite Supermarket near the intersection of Haight Street and Masonic Avenue, SFPD Officer Albie Esparza said.
An eyewitness said the customer, a regular at the market, accused the storeowner of kicking the dog; that’s apparently when the gun came out.
Patrol officers in the area also witnessed the shooting and took the man who owned the store, 43-year-old Sam Kazzouh, into custody shortly afterward. Police later booked Kazzouh into jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, carrying an unregistered loaded firearm, and shooting into an inhabited dwelling, said Esparza.
The victim, a man whose identity was not immediately released, was in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital after suffering life-threatening injuries in the shooting, Esparza said.
Employees at People’s Cafe, a restaurant located near the market, said they heard gunshots and then saw someone lying in front of the doorway of the store at 1416 Haight Street.
“I thought it was fireworks or people joking around,” said People’s Cafe employee Nahu, who did not want to give his last name. Nahu said it appeared the suspect and victim were inside the market prior to the shooting.
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