Man, 71, killed at Twin Peaks

A 71-year-old San Francisco man was shot and killed Sunday morning during an apparent robbery at the Twin Peaks viewpoint — the latest violent episode at the favorite tourist stop, officials said Monday.

The victim, identified by the city medical examiner’s office as Edward French, was found with a gunshot wound near his vehicle in the main parking lot at the overlook, police said.

French had been approached by a young man and a woman around 7:50 a.m. when he was shot and his camera was stolen, said Officer Robert Rueca, a San Francisco police spokesman.

The suspects ran to a dark gray Honda Accord with rearend damage and fled, he said.

A jogger was the first to hear the gunshot and found French lying in the parking lot bleeding, police said. The jogger performed CPR before paramedics took French to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

French was an avid photographer and worked as a location scout for films and other productions.

“This killing is really tragic,” said San Francisco Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, who represents District Eight, which includes Twin Peaks. “It’s obviously not safe at Twin Peaks. This was at 8 a.m. on Sunday. I’m very concerned about it.”

Sheehy said he knew of French through the city’s film production community, and the killing came “like a bolt out of the blue.”

French had been taking pictures shortly after sunrise when he was attacked, his neighbor in San Francisco’s Eureka Valley said Monday.

“He was a really decent guy,” Andrew Hutcheson, 29, said of his upstairs neighbor. “Knowing him, he would have put up a struggle. I could see him denying a person trying to take his stuff.”

Rueca said police continue “looking for anyone who may have heard or seen anything.” The suspects were described as a man in his early 20s weighing 170 pounds with shoulder-length dreadlocks and a 5-foot-3 woman in her late teens, weighing 120 pounds.

French’s family and friends gathered at his apartment at the bottom of the north end of Twin Peaks on Monday, but they did not comment on the killing and asked for privacy.

About a mile up the hill at the viewpoint, busloads of tourists snapped selfies and took in the sweeping panoramas, seemingly unaware of the violence that happened the morning before.

Street musician Andy Perry said he happened upon the scene about half an hour after the killing as investigators taped off the parking lot and police scoured the area for evidence.

“I just knew something was bad,” Perry said Monday while playing Hindu spiritual music on a pump organ near the scene of the killing. “I was just praying the whole time.”

Like many city residents who frequent Twin Peaks, Perry is keenly aware of frequent crime in what appears to be a tranquil neighborhood.

“There’s been a lot of breakins and robberies here,” he said. “It makes me sick. When I hear something like this, it goes really deep into my heart.”

One of the most shocking attacks at Twin Peaks came in February 2016 when two men were killed and another wounded in an early-morning triple shooting on top of the hill. Richard Contreras, 27, of Richmond pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in the case.

That crime came amid several brazen robberies at the sightseeing spot involving tourists and photographers. The crimes often go unsolved.

Most recently, three Bay Area residents taking pictures on July 1 were robbed at gunpoint at Twin Peaks. The victims, two men and a woman, were robbed of a camera, lens and phones at the overlook.