Shucos Cook Dies On His Day Off

Marvin Flores, 23, a cook and cashier at Los Shucos Hot Dogs died early this morning in an incident outside of Sidewalk Juice on 21st and Valencia streets.

The cause of death is unclear.

Flores, who generally worked the closing shift on Sunday had the day off because Los Shucos had sold out of bread and Sofia Keck, the owner, told him he could have Sunday off.

Flores spent the day with his friends, among them his best friend Javier Vasquez and Vasquez’s girlfriend Tracy Harting.

“We were enjoying the weather out,” Harting said. “We said goodbye at around 10 p.m. and he was happy. He was doing his laundry [before] and his last $10 dollars he spent them on flowers for his mom.”

Details are unclear as to how Flores died, but his friends said that at around 2 a.m. Flores got a hold of what he thought was a fake gun. At the time, he was sitting on the benches near Sidewalk Juice on 21^st and Valencia with a group of friends.

Vasquez said that he heard from other friends that Flores laid down on the bench with the gun and pulled the trigger. It wasn’t fake and he died at the scene. At least that is what other friends are saying. Vasquez doesn’t believe that Flores, who he has known for 10 years, would be that irresponsible – even if he thought the gun was a fake gun.

He said that the police called it a suicide, but this has not been confirmed.

“Friends assumed that it was an accident,” Vasquez said. “The police said it was a suicide. It happened right here [on the street]. We want to know what the cameras have, because we need to know what went down,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez said that Flores was the first person he met 10 years ago when he arrived in San Francisco from El Salvador. “He was my friend,” Vasquez said. “He taught me English, he is the reason why we are able to have a conversation right now. He was an awesome human being. My boy was happy, and there was no reason for him to shoot himself.”

Police haven’t yet returned calls, but this story will be updated as we get more info. The Medical Examiner’s office said they could not confirm any details because the family has not come to identify the body.

Keck said that during the closing shift, Flores would enjoy the music generally played in the store and would dance while he got everything in order. Flores used to live next door to the Guatemalan business on 22nd and Bartlett streets. He finished dental school, but when Los Shuco’s opened earlier this year, he applied for a job there.

Flores had recently moved with his aunt to Third Street, and Keck subsidized a taxi fare so that he would arrive home safely.

“He was an amazing cook,” Keck said. “I said I would give him a hot dog [designed] belt so he could wear his pants up because he used to wear them very low. He loved to dance.”