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S.F. Chinatown Shootings May Be Tied to Gang

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Police say a Monday morning street shooting near Chinatown that left one man dead and a pregnant woman and six others injured may be related to Asian gang activity.

Inspector Art Gerrans said several of the victims, all of them Asians, had a “history of gang-related activity,” but would not elaborate. Three of the victims were former employees of an Emeryville gambling establishment popular with Asians.

The victims, all San Francisco residents, had just left the Purple Onion nightclub at the edge of Chinatown at about 2 a.m. when they were fired upon as they entered two cars parked about a block from one another, police said. Michael Bit Chen Wu, 35, was killed by the gunfire.

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Police said they are looking for two suspects. The gunmen simultaneously approached each car and began firing shots through the windows while circling the vehicles, officers said. They said at least one of the suspects was Asian.

Six of the injured were hospitalized. Margaret Lee, 26, who is four months pregnant, was listed in serious to critical condition after undergoing surgery for a hip wound. A seventh victim was treated at the scene for a minor injury.

Police also speculated that the shootings may have stemmed from a gambling dispute. Three of the victims worked at the King Midas Club, which offers the popular Asian game pai gow, Gerrans said. Played with a form of dominoes, the game often has stakes as high as $100,000.

Wu oversaw three pai gow tables until he quit more than a month ago, said Mike Connolly, King Midas security supervisor. Margaret Lee and her brother, Raymond Lee, 40, who was also wounded in Monday’s attack, had been dealers at the club until quitting four months ago, Connolly said.

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