Zebra murders

The Zebra murders were a number of connected murders performed by a black supremacist serial killer ring that took place in San Francisco, California in 1973 and 1974. They were dubbed the Zebra Killings because of the radio channel used by the San Francisco Police ("Z") exclusively for this case.

Reaction to the Murders

The murders certainly brought panic to the city. People would try to find safety in numbers whenever they would go out, and as much as possible, avoid going out at night. In reaction, increased police presence was ordered throughout the city.

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The police were baffled by the lack of motive in the killings. Brutality and an apparent lack of remorse on the part of the gunmen marked the attacks. The common denominator in all the killings was that all the killers were black and the victims were white (Saleem Erkat, although an Arab, was apparently mistaken for white).

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Based on what was known about the shootings, there was a common pattern. The gunman walked to his victim. The victim was shot repeatedly at close range, and the killer fled on foot, in a hit-and-run shooting. Another link to the shootings was the killer's preference for a 32-caliber pistol, based on the slugs recovered from the victims and the shell casings that littered the crime scences.

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As a result, a special task force was formed to try to solve and stop the murders. It was led by Detectives Gus Coreris and John Fotinos. Police Chief Donald Scott assigned the "Z" frequency for their exclusive use. Since the letter Z is known in common phonetic use as "Zebra" they became known as the Zebra task force, and the murders became the Zebra murders.

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