Eric Bigone, a 58-year-old resident of the Outer Sunset, was shot and killed by a gunman on early Sunday morning near 46th Avenue and Ulloa Street, a residential area just two blocks from Ocean Beach and the San Francisco Zoo, according to the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office.
No arrest has been made, as of 11 a.m. on Monday, according to the San Francisco Police Department. The gunman, wearing a beanie and a mask, arrived on a bicycle. He was seen on the sidewalk holding a clear plastic bag and later a long gun, according to a screenshot from an SFPD internal bulletin notice from Sunday morning.
The shooting happened around 5:21 a.m. on Sunday morning. SFPD states that police arrived on the scene at time and attempted to render aid to Bigone, but he died at the scene.
His death is the second reported homicide in the Sunset this year, and the 17th citywide. Less than two months ago, Samantha Emge, 22, was shot and killed in her home that she shared with, Nation Wood, near 22nd Avenue and Santiago Street.
Bigone was remembered by his friends on social media as “a good man” and “a solid friend,” but with a rowdy past.
One quoted lyrics from Bigone’s old band, Whiskey Business, and another posted a video of him performing. A few shared hashtags like #SDI and #sdi4ever, an apparent reference to the “Sunset District Irish” or “Sunset District Incorporated” — a 90s-era crew that was, depending on who you talked to, either a group of hard-drinking, playful local kids, or a violent gang that hung out at Ocean Beach and harassed minorities, but largely managed to avoid the attention police focused on gangs in other neighborhoods.
Bigone was also charged with a felony of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in 2004 in Lake County, after witnesses saw Bigone drive head-on into another car on Route 29, killing its driver. According to a lawsuit filed by Bigone from prison in 2009, he was sentenced to fifteen years to life based on the testimony of eyewitnesses, as well as evidence that Bigone had been smoking a joint and drinking from a bottle of Wild Turkey not long before the collision.
After Bigone’s release, according to his friends, he lived a quiet life, working for the city as a general laborer. “He did all the time and finally got his freedom and thriving and this happens,” wrote one friend on Facebook. “Eric was no angel when we were young,” wrote another, “but he more than paid his dues throughout his life.”
“This morning I saw someone posted we lost Eric. I didn’t believe it,” wrote another friend, who said they had seen Bigone at a memorial the previous Thursday. “He was in good spirits and good to see,” he added. “Eric was a good man.”
Bigone was into boxing, posting videos of matches online, and attending local meets like the summer boxing series in at the United Irish Cultural Club, just two blocks from his home. Liam Reidy, the president of the United Irish Cultural Club, said Bigone had been coming to the center for the past five years to help setting up a boxing ring for the Fire in the Ring boxing club. “He always came to help and volunteered for the amateur boxing,” Reidy wrote in a text.
Late Monday afternoon, a CBS News crew had set up outside Bigone’s house. The porch and the security gate in front of his door at 2518 46th Avenue was covered with mementos: flowers, cans of Red Bull, a traffic cone, a high-visibility work vest with the words “SFWD CDD Operations” printed on the back.
An old blue Toyota Camry was still parked in the front, with a worn American flag in the window, and a mini boxing glove hanging from the rear-view mirror.
On the second floor, American and Irish flags sat side by side in the window. The lights were still on.
A couple who lives on the block said they often saw Bigone working on his car in front of his home.
“It is unsettling that it happened right down the street,” they said. “We have a 2-year-old son — we take them for walks around the block. We were talking if we just shouldn’t walk around at night. We don’t know if it’s safe.”
A neighbor, who has 46th Avenue for over 30 years, said that she woke up around 8 a.m. on Sunday to texts from her sister, asking if everyone was okay.
She went outside and saw a police tent covering Bigone’s body, which lay on the L-Taraval train track in front of his home.
“It was a shock” the woman said, for a shooting like this to happen on her usually quiet block. “But it was definitely targeted. I don’t feel unsafe.”
This case remains an open and active investigation. Anyone with information should contact the SFPD at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous.
