Arrest made in brutal homicides near City College

Photo of Mugshot of Binh Thai Luc, arrested and charged with five counts of murder. Alex Emslie/The Guardsman

By Joe Fitzgerald, Sara Bloomberg and Alex Emslie

Special to The Guardsman

San Francisco resident Binh Thai Luc, 35, was arrested this morning in connection with five homicides from Friday morning in a family home near City College’s Ocean campus. The information was released at a press conference at 5 p.m. Sunday evening at the Hall of Justice.

Disputing earlier statements made by the San Francisco Police Department, police claimed there weren’t any gunshot wounds at the scene.

“This investigation is very complex,” SFPD Sgt. Daryl Fong said, regarding the conflicting information given to reporters about gunshot wounds. “There are up to four homicide crime scenes in the residence” and the SFPD attempts to provide accurate information as it becomes available, he said.

According to SFPD Chief Greg Suhr, the victims may have suffered from blunt force trauma and edge trauma. The official cause of death hasn’t been determined yet by the medical examiner.

The SFPD was able to confirm that their gang task force is involved in the investigation, but when asked if they believed there was gang activity involved with the homicide, they said that the investigation was ongoing.

Binh Thai Luc’s brother, Brian Luc, 31, was also arrested the same day, but not in connection with the murders. Brian Luc was arrested and charged with narcotics possession and possession of ammunition in violation of his probation.

Photo by: Shane Menez / The Guardsman

“The victims have no connection to City College that we know of,” Fong said, when asked if the killers or victims had any connection to City College beside proximity.

City College Student Trustee Jeffrey Fang said that students should not have a knee jerk reaction and that soon after the discovery of the bodies, police confirmed that the attack was targeted and not random.

“It’s a tragedy and shocking to see in Ingelside, which is usually very quiet,” Fang said.

Police stand outside of 16 Howth St, the site of a five person murder-suicide on Mar. 23, 2012 in San Francisco, Calif. The City College of San Francisco Ocean Campus can be seen in the background. Photo by Matt Lambert/The Guardsman

Chief of the City College Campus Police André Barnes said that there is no reason to believe there is a threat to campus safety.

The SFPD repeatedly thanked City College for allowing them to setup a command post in the Wellness Center on Ocean Campus.

When the medical examiner is finished identifying the bodies they will update the media with the identities of the victims, as well as the official cause of death.