SF Public Works employee shot dead while cleaning graffiti

Video: San Francisco DPW Worker Fatally Shot While Cleaning Mission District Streets

A 27-year-old San Francisco Public Works employee was fatally shot Wednesday morning in Potrero Hill while painting over graffiti, authorities said.

Jermaine Jackson Jr. was shot near 25th and Vermont streets about 8 a.m., according to police and Public Works officials. He was taken by ambulance to the nearby San Francisco General Hospital, where he died.

There were no immediate arrests, and the motive was unclear.

Jackson, a father of two young children — a boy and girl — was an apprentice in the city department since March 2015. He was set to graduate the program next year.

Before his apprenticeship, he was in a program through Mayor Ed Lee’s office aimed at preventing violence in high-crime neighborhoods. During his work with Interrupt, Predict and Organize for a Safer San Francisco, Jackson passed his GED exam, said Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, who called him a “motivated, hardworking and well-liked employee.”

Jermaine Jackson, killed in a shooting Wednesday, worked for the city’s Public Works Department. Jermaine Jackson, killed in a shooting Wednesday, worked for the city’s Public Works Department. Photo: San Francisco Public Works Department Photo: San Francisco Public Works Department Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close SF Public Works employee shot dead while cleaning graffiti 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Just hours before the shooting, Jackson dropped off his 7-year-old daughter, Jayla, at school and hugged her goodbye.

“He said, ‘I love you, let me give you a kiss. I’ll see you later,’” Jayla said, sitting outside their San Francisco home with her family. “And that’s when he left.”

Neighbors knew Jackson as being good with kids — his own and those around the block where he lived. He hosted barbecues, played pickup basketball and got into arguments with a 49ers fan who lived nearby. Jackson made it clear he preferred the Raiders.

Seven or eight years ago, he had run-ins with gangs, but after his daughter was born, he cleaned up, family and friends said.

“He showed these kids — he showed everyone — he could turn his life around,” said his grandmother, 63-year-old Juanita Befford.

Family and friends couldn’t understand who would want to kill Jackson. His brother, who is in jail, fell to the ground and guards had to pick him up after he learned about the slaying, Befford said.

Jackson was known to spoil his children, relatives said, taking them to the beach on weekends and buying Jayla a four-wheeler on a recent birthday, even though money was tight.

Jackson’s mother-in-law, Pamela Plousha, 60, said the family was proud of Jackson after he got the city Public Works job. He recently paid off a stack of traffic tickets, she said.

“I just hope that they catch whoever did this,” Plousha said. “No man did this. No gangster did this. A coward did this.”

Lee ordered the city’s flags to be flown at half-staff until sunset Thursday for “the death of one of our own.”

“This was a young man who worked very hard to build a good life for himself and his children, and was committed to his work keeping the City of San Francisco and our neighborhoods clean,” the mayor said in a statement. “This is a tragic instance of a life cut short.”

A homicide investigation and a separate internal public works probe are ongoing.

Michael Bodley and Kimberly Veklerov are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com, kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov, @michael_bodley