San Diego police are adding patrols to the Hillcrest area after gel pellets were fired and injured three people at several businesses there.
Hillcrest is considered the heart of San Diego's LGBTQ+ community, and police say they are investigating these attacks as hate crimes.
"We're not going to let hate win. It's not an option," Moe Girton, the owner at Hillcrest bar and grill Gossip Grill, told NBC 7.
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Eddie Reynoso with Rich's night club was shot in the eye with a gel pellet on Saturday night. He's back to work with a torn cornea but says his vision will return soon.
“When you see something like that happen, it does make you kind of stand back and go, 'Oh wow,'" Girton said.
As traumatic as Saturdays’ pellet attack was for the victims, the fact is Hillcrest has been targeted for decades.
Benjamin Nicholls, the executive director of the Hillcrest Business Association, says with such big events like Memorial Day weekend, Pride Month and the July parade, shops aren’t hunkering down, but they are doubling down on the promotion of the culture and community.
“If I could make a sign that shines brighter, I would,“ Nicholls said.
Nicholls says the attacks last weekend are the work of bullies that wish to sow fear into the community.
"A community that allows you to be whoever you want to be, that scares a lot of people because they’re not who they want to be,“ Nicholls said.
There is plenty of security video of the dark-colored sedan used in the pellet gun incidents but no image of the license plate. Nicholls says he requested plate-reader cameras from the city some time ago.
“I feel like if the cameras had been in place, we’d have much better footage of these incidents,” Nicholls said.
Girton says Gossip Grill has state-of-the-art cameras, scanners and topnotch security. They prohibit bags in the bar, and there's active-shooter training for staffers and exit drills. The bar and restaurant keeps close ties with police.
“They really have worked one-on-one with us. The liaisons have been in constant contact with us. They’re on speed dial. Whatever we need, we just call them, and they are there,“ Girton said.
For upcoming events, Nicholls says law enforcement is communicating with the bar and restaurant owners. He says security at each establishment is also communicating with the others.
“We’ve seen these kinds of attacks before, and we are going to bounce back and be stronger as a result," Nicholls said.
Police say the five pellet incidents are connected and continue to investigate. So far, there have been no arrests.
