San Francisco police say four gang members were arrested and charged with murder. One 18-year-old and two juveniles were also arrested and charged as accessories to the murder. One adult suspect is outstanding.
The victim, 50-year-old Mechthild Schroer, was in San Francisco last August celebrating her birthday and 25th wedding anniversary with her husband when she was shot and killed near the Union Square theater district. She was caught in the crossfire of a gang shootout. Schroer's husband and two sons were in the Bay Area last week, pressing for answers. Wednesday, Schroer's husband thanked police and the city of San Francisco for their efforts.
Police say some of the men arrested today were originally arrested the night of the shooting but were released. They credit the community and evidence for helping them make the new arrests.
"It was really, quite frankly, a culmination of evidence," Lt. Lea Militello said. "I mean, there are a lot of things that I'm not going to go into at length here, but there was a lot of pieces of the puzzle that came together over many, many months."
The night of the shooting, police got a lot of help from a cab driver, who followed what he thought might be suspects and a getaway car. Thursday, he and a business owner near the crime scene welcomed the news of the arrests.
"I'm definitely jubilant that they got the guys, hopefully this can be resolved with the DA"s office and handled quickly," the cab driver said.
