One man was wounded around 9:30 p.m. last night during a shooting in the parking lot shared by Min Sok Chon, Somi Somi, Sul & Beans, and Prime Grills in the Convoy area of San Diego.
The incident followed an altercation between two groups of patrons at the entrance of the eatery. When the fight escalated between a 38-year-old man and another man, a third male patron from the restaurant came outside and fired several shots in the parking lot. Guests at Min Sok Chon at 4620 Convoy St. dropped to the ground and hid under tables.
The shooter and the other patron involved in the fight fled the scene and have not yet been detained. According to NBC San Diego, the shooting suspect is a man in his late 20s, “with a thin to medium build, standing around 5-foot-6.” He was last seen wearing a black ski cap, black hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants, and black slippers.
The victim was shot four times with a semiautomatic handgun, suffering wounds to his torso and lower body. He was rushed to a local hospital for emergency surgery. As of Saturday morning, his health condition is currently unknown.
UCSD third year Anette Ramos arrived at Min Sok Chon after the shooting occurred. When asked to describe the scene, she said there were police cars “barricading the entrance to the plaza and the restaurant was closed off.”
According to Ramos, guests arriving after the incident were immediately asked to go home.
This is the second shooting in San Diego within one week. Earlier this week, one suspect was detained after a recent shooting at Golden Dragon Asian Bistro, located in Hillcrest.
The suspect responsible for the Hillcrest shooting has been identified as 29-year-old Stefano Markell Parker, who is accused of firing almost 20 shots into Golden Dragon Asian Bistro at 7:40 p.m. on Tuesday night.
According to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), Parker had made a ‘disturbing’ Facebook post targeting the LGBTQ+ community prior to the shooting. The Hillcrest neighborhood is historically known for being at the heart of San Diego LGBTQ+ culture.
Yesterday, Parker was charged with 13 felony counts in court, including 11 counts of premeditated attempted murder with a special allegation of discharging a firearm, another count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and one count of shooting into an occupied building. He stands to face 374 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
At this time, SDPD is still determining Parker’s motive for the Hillcrest shooting.
According to Assistant Police Chief Al Guaderrama, “We have a tremendous amount of evidence that we need to go through before we make the determination that it was a hate crime.”
This is the second time that Min Sok Chon restaurant has had an altercation become violent. In 2016, a man stabbed another man after a fight broke out at the restaurant. The victim survived injuries but it is unknown whether the suspect was apprehended.
SDPD and gang detectives are currently investigating Friday night’s Convoy shooting.
The San Diego Police Department Eastern Division was not taking calls when The Triton reached out for comment. They can be contacted here.
If you are a UCSD student who can speak to either the Hillcrest or the Convoy shooting, please contact The Triton at news@triton.news.
Sylvia O is a Staff Writer for The Triton. News Editor Ella Chen and Assistant News Editor Orianna Borrelli contributed to reporting and writing for this article.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.