Mother Shot, Killed In Front Of Her 3 Children During Drive-By In SF's Bayview District
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — San Francisco police are looking into the possibility that two shooting deaths in the city's Bayview District on Tuesday, may be related to a possible gun battle between two cars.
Marie Soza was standing on Revere Street when she was shot in front of her three children after picking them up from school around 4:15 pm. She died at the scene.
"She just happened to be in the middle of the crossfire when two cars starting shooting at each other," said Soza's sister Blanca.
Soza's boyfriend Alan Lopez said when he heard about eight shots, he lunged for the kids to protect them. When he looked up, he saw Soza down on the ground, her eyes closed. Then he saw the blood.
He describes Soza as a hardworking and caring mother. Her three kids were forced to watch her begin to die. Lopez worries most about how to handle their three-year-old daughter who keeps asking, "where's mom?"
"That's the hardest part," Lopez said. "What am I going to tell her? She's just a little girl."
Shortly after Soza was shot, a separate woman entered The Old Clam House restaurant on the 200 block of Bayshore Blvd. covered in blood with gunshot wounds. She is expected to survive, but the man driving the car she was in did not.
San Francisco Police Department spokeswoman Grace Gatpandan said witnesses saw two cars with occupants shooting at each other in the area.
"We're still trying to figure out if vehicles were completely involved. There were many shots heard. There were a lot people at the scene. There were a lot of witnesses. Investigators still have to complete the witness statements. This is an open investigation," she said.
She said the gang task force is also looking into the killings.
