San Francisco street ambassador fatally shot while trying to deter drug user
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- San Francisco street ambassador Joey Alexander was shot on Friday and died of his injuries on Tuesday.
- His purpose was to aid those battling homelessness and drug abuse and he was fatally shot after allegedly confronting a person about using drugs in view of women and children.
A San Francisco street ambassador whose purpose was to aid those battling homelessness, poverty 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.
“Joey loved his job, he loved giving back to the community and he was beloved by everyone here at the Urban Alchemy,” said Jess Montejano, an Urban Alchemy spokesperson. “Urban Alchemy was his first employment after coming out [of prison] and he found a higher calling to serve and do it in a way that he was leaving something better than it was found.”
The nonprofit organization hires former convicts and homeless individuals with the goal of utilizing their experiences to offer services and aid to those most in need. Outside the Bay Area, it has offices in Los Angeles and Culver City.
Alexander had worked with the organization for two and a half years.
Montejano confirmed 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 and underwent three surgeries but still died Tuesday.
Police identified and arrested Edmund Bowen, 42, 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.
San Francisco Dist. Atty. Brooke Jenkins on Thursday afternoon charged Bowen with murder along with one count of assault with a firearm and one count of possession of a deadly weapon. The criminal complaint also alleged that Bowen intentionally discharged a firearm in the commission of the murder and that he personally and intentionally used a deadly weapon in the commission of the assault.
Bowen is scheduled to be arraigned Friday. The district attorney’s office will move to have him detained pending trial because of the public safety risk he poses, Jenkins said.
Jenkins said Alexander was hit in the upper thigh.
San Francisco police also found a second victim who may have been hit by shotgun shrapnel.
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.
Updates
7:26 p.m. Oct. 2, 2025: Added charges from the San Francisco District Attorney’s office.
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