News (USA)

Three men arrested in anti-gay BB-gun attack

Three men arrested in anti-gay BB-gun attack

Three Bay Area men are scheduled to be arraigned on assault and hate crime charges in San Francisco next week for allegedly shooting a man they thought was gay with a BB gun.

The Feb. 26 incident took place at about 10 p.m. when the 27-year-old San Francisco man had just come out of a Mission District bar when he was shot once in the cheek by suspects in a nearby car, which then drove off, police spokesman Officer Samson Chan said.

Police arrested three assailants, Shafiq Hashemi, 21, Sayed Bassam, 21, and Mohammad Habibzada, 24. Inside their vehicle was a “rifle-style” BB gun and a video camera, which investigators later discovered had recorded the shooting.

“The suspects did make a confession, basically stating that they came to San Francisco to target gay people,” Chan said.

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