San Francisco cop shot in foot

(06-19) 13:04 PDT San Francisco -- San Francisco

A veteran San Francisco police officer was shot and wounded early today outside a nightclub in the Mission District while trying to break up a fight, police said.

The officer, whose name was not released, was on patrol with two rookie officers at 1:30 a.m. when they witnessed a fight involving a large group of women outside El Rincon nightclub at 16th and Harrison streets, said San Francisco police Lt. Lyn Tomioka.

Several men were trying to hold the women back, so the officers got out of their car to help prevent further fisticuffs, Tomioka said. As they separated the combatants, several shots rang out. The veteran officer was shot in the left foot, Tomioka said.

The two officers he was helping to train went to his aid and put out a description of a car that left the area at high speed, police said. Officers stopped a Camaro matching the description at 17th Street and Potrero Avenue, about six blocks away, and "two potential suspects were detained," Tomioka said. Their names were not released.

The California Highway Patrol helped with the investigation. No gun was recovered, but shell casings were found a short distance away from the shooting, at the same place where the vehicle had been seen, Tomioka said. The wounded officer was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where he was listed in stable condition with a non-life-threatening injury, police said.

The two rookie officers graduated from the police academy in April and are in the seventh week of a 17-week field training program, Tomioka said.

The city's Entertainment Commission ordered the nightclub to suspend operations effective tonight.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.