A 32-year-old Pleasanton, California native was shot in the chest on Pier 14 in San Francisco at 6:30 p.m. last Wednesday, SFGate reports. Kathryn Steinle collapsed and her father, Jim, performed CPR until the paramedics arrived and rushed Steinle to San Francisco General Hospital where she died two hours later.
Suspect Francisco Sanchez was detained shortly after the killing and it is unknown whether the shooting had a target or not. Sanchez was on probation at the time of the shooting.
A gun believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered in the water next to the pier by police dive teams on Thursday, KGO TV reports. Spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Gillian Christensen said Sanchez had been previously deported five times the most recent being in 2009, USA Today reports. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who landed himself in hot water recently after the comments he made about Mexican immigrants in his presidential announcement, took to Twitter following Steinle’s death.
.@marcorubio what do you say to the family of Kathryn Steinle in CA who was viciously killed b/c we can’t secure our border? Stand up for US
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2015
Trump wasn’t alone, multiple people tweeted following the tragedy including former Congressman Joe Walsh with the following:
The illegal who killed Kathryn Steinle in SF had 7 felonies. Why the hell was he in America? Deport these felons now. http://t.co/3is80oUsCN
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) July 5, 2015
Steinle’s death led multiple Twitter users to both question San Francisco’s Sanctuary City policy and support some of the things Trump said in the his speech thatcaused so much controversy. Cameron Gray of NRA News wrote:
Sanctuary city policies nationwide must be made illegal – San Francisco has #KathrynSteinle‘s blood on their hands https://t.co/25ytnabLBO
— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) July 3, 2015
John Cardillo, host of The John Cardillo Show, wrote:
The murder of Kathryn Steinle proved @realDonaldTrump absolutely right on immigration.
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) July 3, 2015
San Francisco became a Sanctuary City in 1989. New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and many more identify as Sanctuary Cities as well.
