Four San Diego Gay Bars Targeted In Pellet Gun Attack

Be safe out there, everyone. Gay bars in San Diego were reportedly targeted over the weekend in a series of pellet gun incidents, a bizarre phenomenon that has unsettled the local LGBTQ+ community.

Around 1AM on Saturday morning, four LGBTQ+ establishments were reportedly shot at: Pecs Bar, The Rail, Rich's, and Number One on Fifth Avenue, all of which are located in the queer-friendly neighborhoods of Hillcrest and North Park. Police have not released any information about the attack, but witnesses say that the assailant, whose identity is currently unknown, was driving a BMW at the time of the incident.

Although it’s unclear if anyone was seriously injured, multiple LGBTQ+ patrons were fired at, and at least three were directly shot. Eddie Reynoso, an employee of Rich’s, was hurt after being struck in the eye. “I feel something kinda, like, explode, almost like something popped,” he told the local CBS affiliate KFMB. “And by then I was already falling to the ground. In my mind, I thought I just got shot through the eye and my eye just flew out.”

Reynoso attempted to duck to the ground, thinking the gun was an AK-47, but couldn’t hide fast enough to avoid the line of fire. He was reportedly taken to the hospital for minor eye surgery.

Donny Hurry, a security guard at The Rail, was struck multiple times in the arms and back while trying to run away. Hurry took cover inside the bar’s doors after he saw an individual firing from a car window, before realizing the firearm wasn’t deadly. Amid the assault, a patron, Stefano Contreras, was reportedly hit in the eyebrow and back.

“This is obviously a safe space,” said customer Izan Corso in comments to KFMB. “So the fact that people can just come in from outside and sort of make it feel unsafe is just unfortunate.”

Police officers have not confirmed whether the series of incidents are being investigated as a hate crime or whether suspects have been identified. It’s also uncertain whether multiple individuals are responsible or whether the attacks were perpetrated by a single assailant.

Even as authorities investigate whether the attacks were motivated by bias, the news in San Diego is concerning following attacks on LGBTQ+ nightlife spaces around the country in recent years. In 2016, 49 people were killed and 53 more injured in a mass shooting at Pulse nightclub, an Orlando gay bar, during its monthly Latin night. And nearly two years ago, five lives were taken in an attack on Colorado Springs’ Club Q, the city’s largest queer watering hole.

Attacks have also taken place in cities like Beirut, London, Los Angeles, New York City, and Oslo. In 2023, a man was arrested for arson after setting ablaze the awnings of Gossip Grill, the city’s only remaining lesbian bar.

Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here.

Originally Appeared on them.