A San Francisco street ambassador whose purpose was to aid those battling homelessness and drug abuse was shot and killed allegedly by someone he was trying to steer in another direction.
Friends and colleagues of Urban Alchemy employee Joey Alexander, 60, said he was shot Friday and succumbed to his wounds Tuesday.
San Francisco Police said the shooting took place at 4:51 p.m. across from City Hall and near the city’s main public library branch.
An email to an Urban Alchemy spokesperson was not immediately returned.
The nonprofit organization hires former convicts and homeless individuals with the goal of utilizing those experiences to offer services and aid to those most in need.
Urban Alchemy told a Bay Area news station that Alexander confronted a man openly using drugs in front of the library in view of women and children.
That man pulled a shotgun out of a bag, screamed “F@#$ Urban Alchemy” to Alexander and shot him in his leg, according to reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle. Alexander had his leg amputated, underwent three surgeries but still died on Tuesday.
Police identified and arrested 42-year-old Edmund Bowen the day of the shooting. He was booked on suspicion of murder, was offered no bail, and is awaiting his next court date in a San Francisco County jail.
“I’m still processing it,” Ronald Carter, a coworker of Alexander’s, told a San Francisco television station. “My heart is hurting right now, because that was my brother. We’ve been through thick and thin together… I can’t wait for his family to see this — let him know that we had his back.”
According to the Chronicle, Alexander served 23 years in prison for unknown charges. He had been free for three years and was living in Oakland.
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