San Francisco Ghosts

15. The Golden Dragon Massacre

San Francisco, CA

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The last stop on our tour is the site of one of the most tragic killings in San Francisco history. The Golden Dragon, now the Imperial Palace Restaurant, was the setting in 1977 for two rival gangs to meet. Each of the gangs had resulted from organized crime that controlled the black market in Chinatown. The Joe Boys and the Wah Ching gangs were made up of mostly teenagers and had violently met in the past. On September 4, 1977, the feud was continuing after a member of the Joe Boys had been killed earlier in the year by a member of the Wah Ching gang. The Joe Boys were informed that members of the Wah Ching gang were in the restaurant and saw it as an opportunity to retaliate for the death of the fellow gang member. When members of the Joe Boys arrived at the restaurant they put nylon stockings over their heads and entered the restaurant with their weapons drawn. When they walked through the doors, there were as many as one hundred guests eating in the restaurant, many of them were tourists. The members of the gang opened fire, not paying attention to whom they shot at and killed five innocent people and injured eleven others. Not a single member of the Wah Ching gang was injured. The shooting lasted less than one minute. In the aftermath of the massacre, five members of the Joe Boys gang were arrested and convicted for the killings and the event lead to the formation of a Chinatown gang unit on the San Francisco police force. Not a single member of the Wah Ching gang was injured during the massacre. The Golden Dragon continued to operate for many years until it closed due to a failed health inspection. Soon afterwards, the restaurant reopened at the Imperial Palace. Today, the restaurant is very popular, but it still bears the scars of that terrible day in September, 1977.