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Officials ID victim who died in Castro Muni shooting, while police have yet to arrest the alleged gunman

San Francisco Police Information Officer, Officer Rueca, and Officer Kathryn Winters, Public Information Officer and LGBTQ+ Liaison for the San Francisco Police Department, enter the Castro Muni Station after speaking to the press regarding a shooting in the Muni train on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, that left one dead and one wounded. The perpetrator is still at large in San Francisco, Calif. | Camille Cohen/The Standard

One of the two victims of a brazen Muni shooting Wednesday—in which police have yet to make an arrest—has been identified as a 27-year-old man who died at the scene.

The San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office verified the name of the victim as Nesta Bowen, 27. Bowen, who died of his wounds, has no known residence, officials said.

The other victim was taken to San Francisco General Hospital. His condition remains unknown.

Meanwhile, the alleged gunman remains at large.

The shooting happened just before 10 a.m. on a train with passengers onboard, officials said. The shooter left the train at Castro Station.

Police officers responded at 9:56 a.m. to a report of a shooting at the Forest Hill Muni station, according to an SFPD spokesperson. When police arrived, the train had already left the station. Officers followed the train to the Castro stop, where they say they found two victims on a Muni train.

Police said that one victim, a 70-year-old man, was transported to SFGH with non-life-threatening injuries. The second victim, Bowen, died on the scene despite attempts by firefighters to save him.

Late Wednesday night, SFPD released an image of a “person of interest” in the case.

San Francisco Police Department released an image of a “person of interest” involved in the shooting incident that occurred on Wednesday June 22, 2022 on a MUNI train near the Castro Street Station in San Francisco, Calif. |Courtesy SFPD

The shooting comes during Pride Week and occurred on a Muni train heading from Forest Hill station to Castro station. But police said they have no reason to believe the shooting was targeted at the LGBTQ+ community, and that the gunman seems to have known at least one of the victims.

Still, the city has seen a heightened law enforcement presence in the Castro amid a nationwide wave of threats and violence targeted at LGBTQ+ people this month.

Garrett Leahy can be reached at garrett@sfstandard.com
Jonah Owen Lamb can be reached at jonah@sfstandard.com