Street peace worker asked man to stop doing drugs in front of library — he replied by shooting and killing him, police say

The friends and family of 60-year-old Joey Alexander are grieving his violent end allegedly at the hands of a drug user in San Francisco.

Alexander worked for Urban Alchemy, a nonprofit tasked by the city to prevent crime and drug abuse through community-based initiatives rather than the use of law enforcement officers.

Alexander was the first of the nonprofit’s workers to die on the job, but he was the third to get shot. … Workers were sent into dangerous places of the city without law enforcement training.

On Friday, Alexander confronted a man outside the library in Civic Center Plaza just before 5 p.m. and asked him to stop using illicit drugs in front of children.

That man allegedly pulled out a shotgun and shot Alexander in the gut.

He died four days later at a hospital.

Police arrested 42-year-old Edmund Bowen and booked him into jail.

Urban Alchemy recruits people with a criminal past who are trying to fix their lives and pays them to be street ambassadors and help deter crime as well as drug abuse. Alexander reportedly served 23 years in prison prior to working for the nonprofit for two years.

“That was his beat, in front of the main library. He showed up to work every day when it was his shift,” said Jess Montejano, a spokesperson for Urban Alchemy.

He went on to say that the incident has scared other ambassadors.

“It’s a tight-knit team. There’s definitely some fear amongst Urban Alchemy practitioners right now. It’s very easy to see themselves in Mr. Alexander,” he said.

Montejano also told KQED-TV that Alexander was the first of the nonprofit’s workers to die on the job, but he was the third to get shot. He said workers were sent into dangerous places of the city without law enforcement training.

“They are trained with their lived experience,” he said, “to bring more peace, safety, and cleanliness on the streets. It’s an unfortunate reality that, yes, we do experience hate and sometimes violence in the line of work that we do.”

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The nonprofit won contracts from many cities to operate homeless shelters and implement its community-based solutions, but it has been plagued with criticism about alleged financial mismanagement as well as improper conduct by workers. On Tuesday, about 100 workers were laid off by the group in Texas.

“As we mourn his loss, I am grateful for all of our ambassadors, including those from Urban Alchemy,” reads a statement from Mayor Daniel Lurie. “Every single day, they work alongside our city outreach workers and law enforcement to help those on the street and keep all of us safe.”

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