San Francisco police investigating murder of Australian tourist in Russian Hill

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco police say they have two people in custody in connection to this morning's homicide in the Russian Hill, one of the city's safest neighborhoods.

The San Francisco Medical Examiner Office identified the victim as Matthew Bate, 33, a tourist from Northern Territory in Australia.

Around 2:15 a.m. a verbal altercation became physical, outside the Da Vinci Hotel in the 2500 block of Van Ness Avenue.

The altercation involved multiple suspects, and a man was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The victim is said to be a man in his 30s.

The Karchut family visiting from France, woke sometime after 2 a.m. to police banging on the door of their hotel room at the Di Vinci Villa. Officers said they were looking for suspects.

"They checked the room for a criminal," said Marie Karchut.

Police say the public is not considered to be at-risk. They are investigating if drugs or alcohol were involved as well as if any weapons were used.

After a search, police detained two suspects for questioning.

Louise Lund from Denmark saw police surround one room at the hotel, saying, "When we went around the hotel, police were in one room." She added that there were up to 10 men in one room.

The hotel occupies almost an entire city block. Hotel management had no comment on the crime.