Feds file gun case against man suspected of downtown San Francisco shooting
SAN FRANCISCO — Federal prosecutors have filed felony gun possession charges against a man who, according to the criminal complaint, is suspected in an unprovoked downtown attack and shooting that occurred last October.
Alvin Merrite, 47, was charged Feb. 11 with being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the criminal complaint. He has not yet had a court date and is being held in the San Francisco jail, public records show.
According to the complaint, Merrite was identified through surveillance footage as a man who’d fired at three people within 10 minutes on the night of Oct. 2. None of the victims were struck by gunfire.
“Merrite approached two males (Victims #1 and #2) who were walking westbound on Market Street from Montgomery Street. Merrite grabbed Victim #2 without provocation, while waving and firing a black pistol in the air,” special agent Joseph DeMartini with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives wrote in the complaint. “In response, Victim #2 raises his hands in submission and Victim #1 holds his arms out to his side, appearing to plead with Merrite. The video then shows Merrite point the pistol and shoot at Victim #1, as Victim #1 attempts to dodge the bullet and run away.”
The complaint alleges Merrite then punched Victim #2 and fired a shot in the air while holding the gun near his head. Police later determined the two men did not know Merrite.
A few minutes after that shooting, Merrite allegedly confronted and fired at a third man in the same area. After being arrested by San Francisco police officer, Merrite confessed to firing his gun four to five times that night, the complaint alleges.
Merrite wasn’t allowed to have guns because of two prior federal felony convictions: a 1994 cocaine distribution conviction out of Alabama, and a gun conviction in Houston, in 2013, according to the complaint.
Merrite’s first court date has not yet been set, according to court records.