08/07/2026
AFTER THE MURDER OF TRAVIS WINE: ONLINE TAUNTS AND TALK OF RETALIATION RAISE CONCERNS OF MORE GANG VIOLENCE.
The murder of 31-year-old Travis Wine in Novato is beginning to raise concerns far beyond the location where he was shot.
Wine, a local rapper known as SR LOKO (From San Rafael) NBN “NorthBay Norteño” gang, was fatally shot shortly after 10 a.m. on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, in the 400 block of Alameda del Prado in Novato. Novato Police have described the shooting as a targeted, gang-related attack and said those involved appeared to know one another. The gunman fled on foot toward Calle Arboleda, and authorities have not publicly identified or arrested a suspect.
A witness at the scene, described the heartbreaking moments immediately following the shooting. According to the witness, she heard several gunshots at the apartment complex where Wine lived and went outside to see what had happened. She found Wine on the ground, seriously wounded.
According to her account, Wine was still conscious and pleaded, “Help me, help me, help me.”
The witness said she went to him, cradled his head and tried to reassure him, telling him that 911 had been called, police and emergency personnel were coming and that he needed to hold on. She said Wine was still alive when he was taken from the scene by ambulance. He was transported to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Since Wine’s death, we have received numerous photographs, videos and screenshots of people claiming affiliations with opposing gangs. Some of that material is disturbing because it appears to show people celebrating or mocking Wine’s death while others associated with Wine are openly mourning him.
As part of this coverage, we will be showing some of those videos and photographs. The material includes posts and footage appearing to show people associated with Wine’s rivals celebrating or mocking his death, alongside separate photographs and videos showing Wine’s friends and associates mourning him and gathering to pay their respects. We are sharing this material to document the atmosphere surrounding this homicide and the potential for further violence. not to glorify either side or promote gang activity.
We want to be very clear about the distinction between what police have confirmed and what is circulating on the streets and social media. All these videos and photographs are currently circulating throughout social media platforms. It is being highly discussed at this moment.
Among the information being circulated are allegations that someone formerly close to Wine may have helped set him up to be murdered. We have received messages making that allegation, but law enforcement has not confirmed it, and we are not presenting it as fact. At this point, it remains street information that investigators (not social media) need to determine is true or false.
We have also obtained social-media material that shows rapper “North Bay Thumper” (Alex Razo) and people displaying 18th Street affiliations apparently celebrating or taunting over Wine’s death. Again, celebrating someone’s death or posting gang-related material does not establish that any of those individuals participated in the homicide. Novato Police have not publicly named North Bay Thumper, the 18th Street gang, or any individual as responsible for Wine’s murder.
Northbay thumper is originally from San Rafael California to be more specific the Canal Street area that has a heavy Sureño presence. Northbay thumper has heavy ties to Sonoma County, where he has a lot of family to be more specific the Rohnert Park area. Information provided to us indicates that Northbay thumper is a social media agitator and is in bad standings with local gangs in Sonoma County due to him previously being from the LP “la Primera” Gang. Therefore, he is considered a hood hopper which puts him in bad standings with that former Gang.
What concerns us is what could happen after the murder.
Photographs provided to us also show a large gathering of people who came to the area where Wine was killed to pay their respects. Some individuals in the photograph appear to display hand signs and clothing commonly associated online with Norteño culture or groups. A photograph alone, however, cannot establish that every person pictured is a gang member, and we are not labeling every individual in that gathering as one.
Wine’s music also crossed county lines.
On July 27, just over a week before his death, an Instagram account posted a preview for an upcoming song titled “Never There” featuring SR LOKO. The footage shown in the post includes scenes filmed at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park in Santa Rosa. The accompanying Instagram post used hashtags including , and .
We have also received information identifying another performer appearing in the project as being associated with VSP/Varrio South Park in Sonoma County. We are continuing to document those connections rather than presenting every claimed affiliation as established fact.
Additional material supplied to us indicates that Wine recorded gang-related music containing insults directed toward rivals and people described as gang dropouts. That context may become relevant to understanding the tensions surrounding his death, but lyrics, tattoos, photographs and social-media posts should not be confused with evidence establishing who murdered him.
This isn’t being published to glorify gang culture, promote either side, or turn a man’s death into entertainment.
It’s being published because bullets don’t know who their intended target is.
Novato isn’t normally a community people associate with sustained gang warfare. But one targeted killing followed by public taunting, disrespect and retaliation talk can create a cycle that reaches people who had absolutely nothing to do with the original dispute.
Children live in these neighborhoods. Families walk these streets. People drive to work, stand at bus stops and go shopping without knowing about disputes happening between people on Instagram.
That’s our concern.
We are receiving information indicating people associated with Wine are angry and discussing retaliation. We are simultaneously receiving information indicating people associated with rivals are aware of that possibility and are preparing themselves.
We are not publishing operational details, locations, names of uninvolved individuals or anything else that could help facilitate violence.
Instead, we’re putting the situation in public view because increased attention can sometimes be a deterrent.
If people on either side are genuinely discussing retaliation, understand something: the community is watching, law enforcement should be watching, and another shooting isn’t going to bring Travis Wine back.
It will only create another grieving mother, another family standing at a homicide scene, another person facing decades in prison, and the possibility that an innocent person gets caught in the middle.
This also isn’t solely a Marin County issue. The material we’ve reviewed demonstrates connections extending into Sonoma County, including Santa Rosa. That makes it important for agencies on both sides of the county line to pay attention to public social-media activity and credible information concerning potential retaliatory violence.
None of this means retaliation is inevitable.
Hopefully, the opposite happens.
Hopefully increased attention, intervention by law enforcement and people within these communities deciding they’ve already lost enough prevents another family from receiving the phone call Wine’s family received Tuesday.
There is already one man dead.
There doesn’t need to be another.
Anyone with firsthand information concerning Travis Wine’s homicide should provide that information directly to Novato Police. Online rumors can generate investigative leads, but ultimately evidence—not Instagram posts or street speculation—will determine who is responsible.
