Suspect Arrested In S.F. Shooting

A gunman opened fire at a homeless camp at Golden Gate Park early Saturday, wounding three transients and a police officer, and sparking a nightlong manhunt through the park.

The man was captured at daylight, bleeding from the bites of a police dog that he had shot to death, police said.

“He was just angry, and he had a gun, and he used it,” police investigator Earl Sanders said.

The violence started about midnight Friday when a stranger with a .357-caliber Magnum walked up to a homeless encampment. The man was blowing a whistle and referring to himself as a baby killer, police said.

The man opened fire, slightly wounding three of the transients. One of the injured fled the park and summoned help.

Officers and a police dog chased the man into bushes, police said. The man fatally shot the dog, shot Officer Michael Toropovsky in the leg and later disappeared.

Police barricaded much of the park and the man was caught about six hours later.