SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — City leaders geared up to speak in Hillcrest Thursday after a series of gel pellet gun shootings at LGBTQ bars and nightclubs over the summer.
The press conference will focus on ways to report hate crimes and support victims following those gel pellet gun shootings that left several people injured.
This comes as SANDAG reports a rise in hate crimes around the county.
ABC 10News has been covering those incidents in Hillcrest for months, as people drove by LGBTQ bars and fired gel pellet guns. Those attacks sent a shockwave through the entire community.
Hernan Hernandez, 19, pleaded not guilty on Sept. 7 to hate crimes after three of the pellet gun shootings.
Hernandez claims he was in the car involved in the attacks at the time, but didn't know Hillcrest was an LGBT community.
Hernandez has a preliminary court hearing Thursday.
ABC 10News spoke to Eddie Reynoso right after one of those incidents.
He says pellets hit him in the face, just inches from his eyes. Reynoso says he has PTSD from the incident, which forced him to leave his job at Rich's.
"It’s an act of terror, whether you use the word 'terrorist' or not," said Reynoso. "These people knowingly, willingly and deliberately came into Hillcrest to do what they did and incite fear in people."
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Meanwhile, SANDAG's annual crime report points to a 39% increase in hate crimes from 2022 to last year.
The report says about a third of those were based on sexual orientation, which also saw an increase year-over-year.
Several city councilmembers will speak at Rich's Nightclub at 8 a.m. Thursday.
