A street ambassador from the nonprofit Urban Alchemy who was on patrol outside the San Francisco Main Library on Friday was shot and killed, allegedly after asking the suspect in the case to stop using drugs in public.
Over the weekend, SFist briefly noted a Friday shooting outside the library in which the victim was left critically injured. That victim has since died, and we're now learning that he was an employee of Urban Alchemy.
As the Chronicle reports, 60-year-old Joey Alexander of Oakland succumbed to his wounds early Tuesday following the Friday shooting. Alexander, who was formerly incarcerated, had been on patrol outside the SF Main Library, near the library entrance, just before 5 pm when he reportedly approached the suspecte, who was using drugs out in the open.
The suspect has been identified as 42-year-old Edmund Lawrence Bowen, and he was arrested at the scene.
According to Urban Alchemy, when Alexander spoke to Bowen, Bowen replied, "Fuck Urban Alchemy," pulled a shotgun out of his bag, and shot Alexander at close range.
"We are heartbroken to share that one of our dedicated Practitioners, Mr. Joey Alexander, has tragically passed away after he was violently shot for doing his job last Friday,” Urban Alchemy CEO Dr. Lena Miller said in a statement. "Our entire Urban Alchemy family is grieving after this devastating loss and sending prayers and love to Mr. Alexander’s family and friends."
"Our Practitioners show up every day in some of the toughest and dangerous conditions to help bring safety, compassion, and stability to communities that need it most,” Miller's statement continued. “They do this work with courage and care, often putting themselves at risk in order to transform suffering and disorder into peace and love.”
This is not the first time that an Urban Alchemy employee has been shot while on the job in San Francisco. In 2022, two Urban Alchemy workers were shot and wounded in separate incidents, one at a sanctioned Civic Center tent encampment that the nonprofit was managing, and one during an incident at Turk and Leavenworth streets. The latter shooting occurred shortly after former Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency in the Tenderloin over rampant, open-air drug use.
In another incident in November 2023, an Urban Alchemy worker allegedly shot a man outside a Post Street homeless shelter that the nonprofit manages.
Urban Alchemy employees are not supposed to be armed, and they are not licensed by the state to act as security guards.
The killing of Alexander appears to be the 19th homicide of the year to date in San Francisco.
Miller said that the organization was "dedicated to honoring Mr Alexander’s work and memory by carrying forward our shared mission he worked tirelessly for every day — creating spaces and communities with dignity, safety, and hope."
Top image: Urban Alchemy employees pictured outside the SF Main Library in January 2025, via Google Street View
