Hilton on O'Farrell Incident Sunday Nite

I was staying at the Hilton on O'Farrell Sunday night and 2 minutes after I sat down in the lobby, some sort of incident occurred. People, police and the SFFD were outside near the taxi stand. Supposedly there was some sort of shooting. The next morning, the bellman said it was a jumper, but he wasn't authorized to speak about it. Can anyone shed any light on the incident?

I was also staying there this past weekend. I've been searching for a news article about it, but haven't found any yet.

Pam in Redwood City wrote:

I was staying at the Hilton on O'Farrell Sunday night and 2 minutes after I sat down in the lobby, some sort of incident occurred. People, police and the SFFD were outside near the taxi stand. Supposedly there was some sort of shooting. The next morning, the bellman said it was a jumper, but he wasn't authorized to speak about it. Can anyone shed any light on the incident?

I was there also, and cant belive that i can't find anything about it!

The staff was VERY closed mouthed and I know from their FEW comments that they had been advised of the incident. I told one of the concierge's that I lived here and knew SF had crime, no big deal, no reflection on them, etc. No response. Good grief.

http://sftaxicab.blogspot.com/

Interesting link. Those are the pics, but the other blog info is really weird. Soooo, story remains a mystery! Thanks.

I was also staying at the Hilton that night and as they were removing the tape from the front of the hotel, I asked a police officer what happened and he told me a man jumped from the 24th floor, just missed the awning and fell on the street. The fire department then showed up and hosed the blood down the gutter into the sewer. I also have not been able to find one article on the incident.

I was also staying at the Hilton. In fact, I left the lobby at 11:45 pm to go to Walgreen's one block north and everything was normal. When I returned 15 minutes later, some police cars and paramedics, all lit up, were in the street in front of the Hilton and others were still arriving. The police stopped me as I went towards the front door though the area wasn't yet taped off. I saw someone lying in the street by the curb with paramedics around. They were next to the curb just to the right of the Hilton front doors. I could see the person from the waist down and they were in white briefs with bare legs. I thought it might be a heart attack. The police made us walk around to the back entrance of the Hilton, which was a dark, scary walk. Two other guests that also were coming from Walgreens walked with me and we all went to the lobby to see what was going on. I was shocked to hear people in the lobby say they thought it was a shooting. And I watched the police pull out a yellow tarp and cover the body. I spoke to one woman who was out front smoking when it happened. She heard a loud noise but did not realize what it was. As she heard people start to respond, she looked down the street, and saw someone lying in the street. Another woman came down and said she was staying in a room overlooking the front street and she heard a loud bang, looked out, and saw a white sedan driving away. Another woman came and gave a statement to police. She was outside by the bellmen, asking a policeman for directions when they heard one loud noise. When she realized that someone was down and it might be a gunshot, she ran back into the hotel. But she did say, she thought he came out of a cab, and that he was not the cab driver. The cabdriver was the only "civilian" allowed to be near the crime scene. His DeSoto taxicab was in front. I also have been looking for a news report but haven't found one. There were a lot of people in the lobby at the time. And at the time, people were saying it was a shooting. We did notice quite a few of the policemen came and looked up at the front of the building. Seems like you may have more accurate info from the bellman. That's all the info I have.

Pam in Redwood City wrote:

I was staying at the Hilton on O'Farrell Sunday night and 2 minutes after I sat down in the lobby, some sort of incident occurred. People, police and the SFFD were outside near the taxi stand. Supposedly there was some sort of shooting. The next morning, the bellman said it was a jumper, but he wasn't authorized to speak about it. Can anyone shed any light on the incident?

I wrote to SFGate.com to ask why there was nothing in the media about this death. Their response follows -

"Thanks for writing. Our Metro desk says the body was that of some OD victim who was deposited on the Hilton's door, not a homicide."

-- Vlae Kershner, news director, SFGate.com

Whoa. Well, that would explain the car speeding off. I'm not used to seeing that everyday! Thanks for all the information everyone.

I was staying at the hotel with my husband on Sunday night. We walked back from North Beach to the hotel and saw the area blocked off with crime scene tape. We asked security what happened and they said it was a shooting. The next day I tried to find out more about the incident and couldn't find anything about it in the news. Very strange. Why would they not report this is the news?

I live near the Hilton Hotel,and we have shootings often in this area.The media does not like to print something like this,so as to scare off the tourists and such,as that is not Tenderloin,but the Theater District now.A few months ago there was another shooting at Ellis and Cyril Magnin St,by the Ramada,Parc 55 Hotel and it was hushed up to some degree as a gangland shooting brought on by turf wars over drugs.
The police have put up cameras and do the best they can to make arrests but the DA does not prosecute these drug criminals and they are back on the streets again that very day or the next.It is sickening,and disabled people like me are stuck when we have rent control and cannot afford to move and/or are not well enough to do so.If this was a shooting,which I suspect it was,then the police need to take heed and amp up protection for the neighborhood residents and the hotel guests whose tourist dollars this city so badly needs.This incident should be a wakeup call for all.

I was at san fransisco for a basketball tournament. The team and I stayed at the hilton for 3 nights. Late sunday night, as the team and I arrived to the hotel after dinner, we saw a dead body laying on the floor. Before we knew it, police, and the fire departmen were investigating. All of us ran up to a team mates room and had a perfect view of the uncovered body. It was horrible, there was blood all over him and the curb. The man was shot in the head, people say that they saw pieces of his brain on the floor.

Which team are you on?

I was the girl that was standing next to the policeman asking for directions when we heard the gun shot. There was just one lound bang and the man dropped to the ground dead. The cop took off towards the victim, I ran into the hotel lobby and then went to my room because at that point no one knew who the shooter was and I was afraid he could have come into the lobby as well. I had to come back outside to get items I had left behind outside and they were behind the crime tape at that point so a hotel security guard got it for me. The cop I was talking to when the shot was fired came up to me and I asked him what happened he said he knew as much as I did. I told him I couldn't believe I saw someone get shot while standing right next to a cop and he said, Well I protected you didn't I? You didn't get hurt. Which is true I guess but I would have much rather not have that mental image etched in my brain. I didn't get any other information that night and have been trying to find out what happened online since I got home. This is the only site I have found that even has mentioned the shooting.

Somewhat unfortunately, I can shed some light on this incident.

The young man's name was Brian Webster, he was 26. He was a medical student at UC San Diego. Brian was in the Bay Area this month for a medical rotation.

Sunday evening he had been with several of us, his friends, downtown at Fresh/Ruby Skye until 11pm, when he left 'to get some air'. That was the last we saw of him. His sister contacted us the next morning to inform us that he had fallen/jumped from the Hilton.

How he went from clubbing — he wasn't partying or drinking — to falling/jumping from the Hilton two blocks away is a major mystery to us. We know Brian had suffered from several challenges, and so while we are all looking back at the hours before his death looking for 'signs', we also know that we will probably never know what Brian was thinking/feeling.

A Memorial Service is scheduled for Sunday in San Diego, followed by burial Thursday 13 September in Anacortes, WA where Brian's parents live.

Obituary can be found here:
www.evanschapel.com

Click the link to Brian Webster on the right side.

As an added twist to the tragedy, his family was gathering this weekend in San Diego for his younger brother's wedding, today (Saturday).

Thanks to all who posted what they saw/experienced. It helps us piece together the What, if not the Why.

Erik, Lee, Andy, Zeke, Tai, Antony, Charles

Thank you Erik. Very sorry for your loss.

Erik and friends,

Thank you for sharing Brian's story. So very sorry for your loss.

I am so sorry to hear that it was your friend Erik. Thank you for taking the time to explain what happened.