Palo Alto police are looking for the public’s help in their investigation of a fatal shooting that happened 16 years ago Saturday.
Maria Hsiao, 21, was killed outside a nightclub downtown one block south of University Avenue on Saturday, June 10, 2001, police Capt. Zach Perron said in a 10-minute video released by the department.
Perron recounted being one of the officers who responded to the scene, where Hsiao was found shot in the head. He and his partner quickly performed CPR on her.
“It was a chaotic scene. There were people screaming. There were lights flashing,” Perron said.
Hsiao was a student at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, her sister Andrea Hsiao said in the video.
They had been out with friends for dinner celebrating a birthday, Andrea Hsiao said.
“We didn’t expect for this to happen,” Andrea Hsiao said.
Maria Hsiao was transported by ambulance to a hospital, where she passed away on the operating table, Perron said.
For over the past decade, detectives have been unable to identify a suspect or the circumstances leading up to what happened that night, according to Perron.
Police know there was about 10 to 20 people and bouncers standing on the sidewalk near the nightclub along with the Hsiao sisters and three friends, Perron said.
One shot fired at the scene struck Maria Hsiao’s head and the weapon used in the shooting hasn’t been found, he said.
The Hsiao family has formed the RIA Foundation, a nonprofit honoring the 21-year-old’s memory by promoting art awareness and education, Andrea Hsiao said.
A $100,000 reward funded through the City of Palo Alto and the Hsiao family is still available for anyone who has information that can help move the case forward.
Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent by text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984. Information can also be passed along by calling the detective bureau during business hours at 650-329-2597. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the department’s free mobile app, downloadable at bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.
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• Police release video on unsolved 2001 homicide
I was shocked when I read about this murder 16 years ago. I am shocked again that no one is helping the police find justice for the victim’s family. I really doubt she was killed by a lone gunman who kept their mouth shut over all these years.
Is there any information about what kind of gun was used and what direction or distance it was fired from? Someone might know someone who owns that kind of gun.
I remember the shock that such an outrage like this could happen in public in Palo Alto to a completely innocent individual who had their whole life ahead of them. It’s nice to see this is not being forgotten and every so often it is mentioned and is still being investigated. I hope this is solved the person or persons who did this are caught, brought to justice and punished.