Man Shot Dead in Bernal Heights

Neighborhood car mechanic is found shot to death near S.F. home

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, June 26, 2008
(06-26) 12:28 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- William Amrull considered himself a free-lance auto mechanic and invited anyone with broken-down cars to bring them over to his San Francisco home to fix.

Amrull's selflessness is making it all the more difficult for his family to understand why the 50-year old man was shot and killed early today around the corner from his home.

Amrull's body was found shortly before 3 a.m. on the sidewalk near Holly Park Circle and Newman Street, near Holly Park. The area is in between Bernal Heights and Interstate 280 in the southern part of the city. No arrests have been made.

As police searched for a motive in the slaying, Amrull's family gathered to mourn the loss of the father of four children, ages 15 to 30.

Relatives had few answers. They said they had no reason to believe that anyone would target Amrull, who was known to everyone by his nickname, Juju.

"That's what we don't know. All we know is that they found him in the park," said Amrull's former sister-in-law, a Colma woman who wished to be identified only as Vicky. "We're still trying to figure out who would have done this and why.

"This had to have been random violence," she said. "He's a gentle person. He leaves everybody alone and keeps to himself."

Many neighbors brought their cars over for him to fix, Vicky said. "Juju was wonderful with cars, and everybody just loved Juju," she said.

Ashley Amrull, 21, of Daly City described her uncle as a wonderful man. "He was just really caring, really caring for his family," she said.

Asked what could have led to the slaying, she said, "I don't know. There could be nothing, like it's either kids just did that for nothing or ..." Her voice trailed off.

article link