Gun violence activist shot five times in Bayview Hunters Point

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco police are looking for the two men who shot a community activist, right in front of his home in the Bayview Hunters point neighborhood.

Joseph Taeotui, 43, was returning home after a community meeting Monday about 12:15 p.m. on how to stop gun violence. Video from a neighbor shows the moments after he was shot five times, including three times in the head on Kiska Road. Friends are praying for his recovery where he is getting treated at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

His older brother, Century Fa'ataui, says he is well-known, and respected for his work in the community. 

“There are cool guys and there are over cool guys,” Fa'ataui said. “He's the category of over cool guys. He sees  a problem  and he goes with  a level head and he talks to these youngsters."

Taeotui worked with SVIP  San Francisco's violence prevention outreach services. Volunteers work with the mayor’s office to educate kids on street violence. 

It’s not lost on his community that now he’s the victim of a street crime.

“It's a shame,” said SVIP program director Arturo Carrillo. “We’re trying to do work to help the community, and a lot of folks who know us know that were here to help the community. That's what our focus is and that's what we continue to do."

Fa'ataui said his brother needs to get better. His work with African-Americans and Pacific Islanders in Hunters Point is important work. Tensions are high and gun violence, he added, has to end.

“There’s so much of it going on, there’s more need for what he does,” he said.