Man wounded at Pride event in San Francisco

A 64-year-old man was wounded and several people detained after shots rang out at a gay-pride event in San Francisco on Saturday night in the area of the United Nations Plaza.

“The incident is believed to have started when several groups of men, unrelated to the Pride event, got in a verbal argument,” according to a city police department statement.

The argument escalated “when one of the subjects pulled out a gun and fired several shots,” the department said.

Police identified the victim as a spectator, who was hit in the arm. Other reports said he was a vendor. Some media reports said that six people were detained.

Cellphone video footage has been posted online from more than one perspective. In one, groups of youths are milling about and there appears to be some sort of disagreement in the background. Then, four shots are heard and some people quickly leave the area.

In another video, the sound of shots is more distant, and the gunfire is followed by dozens of people running. Then a phalanx of officers, with guns drawn, passes through, with one officer warning people away.

Officials dispatched the Crime Scene Unit, Gang Task Force and Night Investigations Units, according to a police statement.

San Francisco Pride Week is the largest LGBT event in the country, officials said, and one of the city’s most popular and well-attended public events; visitors could surpass one million.

The atmosphere is expected to be especially festive this year, in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage across the nation.

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