The killing of Kate Steinle at Pier 14 in San Francisco sparked national debate over sanctuary city policies and illegal immigration enforcement.
Key Facts
- Victim age
- 32 years old
- Location
- Pier 14, Embarcadero district, San Francisco
- Shooter's prior deportations
- 5 times
- Trial verdict date
- November 30, 2017
- Firearm conviction overturned
- August 30, 2019
- Distance bullet traveled after ricochet
- 90 feet
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
José Inez García Zárate, an undocumented immigrant who had been deported from the United States five times, claimed to have found a firearm wrapped in cloth beneath a bench on Pier 14. He stated the weapon discharged accidentally when he picked it up, sending a bullet ricocheting off the concrete deck.
On July 1, 2015, Kate Steinle, age 32, was struck in the back by the ricocheting bullet while walking with her father and a friend along Pier 14 in San Francisco's Embarcadero district. She was approximately 90 feet from where the gun was fired and died two hours later in hospital.
García Zárate was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges in 2017, and a firearms conviction was later overturned on appeal in 2019. The case intensified political debate over sanctuary city policies, with Donald Trump repeatedly citing it to advocate for stricter immigration enforcement during his 2016 presidential campaign and at the Republican National Convention.