Tragic trip
August 10, 2010
Police in San Francisco have detained five teenagers over the death of a German tourist on the weekend, law enforcement officials in the US city said in a statement Monday.
Mechthild S., 50, was reportedly killed while walking along a street in the Theater District of the Californian city on Sunday with her husband, police said. A gunfight between rival gangs reportedly broke out nearby and she was hit by a stray bullet.
German news agency dpa reports the clash initially erupted after a quarrel between the teenagers in a club.
Her husband was unharmed but two others, a 15-year-old male and a 19-year-old female, suffered minor gunshot wounds. A police spokesman said a firearm had been seized as evidence.
Eberhard Brockmann, a spokesman for the German consulate, said the victim was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."
The German couple, from the town of Minden in North Rhine-Westphalia, were spending several weeks in California. The husband has reportedly already returned to Germany to be with his two children.
Author: Darren Mara
Editor: Martin Kuebler