Police arrested a man who allegedly shot another man in the neck as a result of a group of people drinking alcohol and carelessly handling guns at a residence in San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood early Saturday morning, a police sergeant said today.
San Francisco police Sgt. Monica MacDonald said the 23-year-old victim was an acquaintance of Rick Kontaxakis, 23, who allegedly shot him in the neck shortly after 4 a.m. Saturday on 28th Street between Douglass and Diamond streets.
Initially, police investigated the shooting as possibly the result of an attempted robbery, but MacDonald said the witnesses’ stories did not add up. She said investigators now believe that the victim was with a group of people playing with guns and drinking inside a residence when he was shot.
MacDonald said the group attempted to hide that fact from officers.
Police received a 911 call from the area and when officers arrived, they were flagged down to assist the victim, who was outside of the residence.
The victim was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with what were initially considered life-threatening injuries. However, he has since been discharged from the hospital, MacDonald said today.
The witnesses gave police conflicting stories, initially telling officers that the man had been shot by an unknown suspect on the street outside of the home.
MacDonald said investigators later determined that the crime scene was inside the house, not on the street as witnesses had initially described.
Officers obtained a search warrant of the residence and determined that at least three people had been drinking and handling guns inside the residence when the man was shot. Officers also found numerous firearms and ammunition inside the home.
Police arrested Kontaxakis on suspicion of aggravated assault, negligent discharge of a firearm, seven counts of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, altering the serial number of a firearm, possession of an assault weapon and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person, according to police.
MacDonald did not say what type of gun was used in the shooting or give any reasons for why the suspect fired the gun in the victim’s direction.
Hannah Albarazi, Bay City News
