Commission attaches new safety conditions after shooting at Longshoremen's Hall

The San Francisco Entertainment Commission on Feb. 5 voted to attach a set of updated security and good‑neighbor conditions to the Longshoremen's Hall place‑of‑entertainment permit after SFPD recounted a Jan. 19 incident that included gunfire and a wounded minor.

Officer Steve Mathias of Central Station told the commission the evening began with a fight inside the hall at a private party and later moved outdoors, where "I think there were 8 shots fired" and a 15‑year‑old boy was struck in the head and taken to the hospital. Mathias said officers encountered difficulty obtaining information from security and promoters and said police should have been called sooner.

Jim Shore, who said he represents the Bay Area Longshoremen's Memorial Association (the hall's legal owner), said the organization was "saddened" by the violence, stopped events in February and pledged to cooperate with staff and police to implement the conditions discussed at the meeting.

Commissioners questioned how pat‑downs and perimeter security would be handled when outside promoters rent the space and urged the hall to compile a preferred vendor list for security and other third‑party vendors. Staff noted the permit on file dated to about 1990 and said it lacks modern conditions such as a required security plan, surveillance cameras and vendor controls.

The commission recorded a motion to attach the staff‑drafted conditions to the permit, to recondition the permit and to require compliance by the operator; the motion passed on a roll‑call vote with Commissioners Lee, Tan, Joseph, Hyde and Perez voting "Aye." Staff indicated the venue must submit a security plan by Feb. 22 for staff review.

Next steps: staff will review the security plan once submitted and report back to the commission; the attached conditions will be included in the venue's permit, and staff and SFPD will coordinate compliance and inspections.