Man Convicted of First-Degree Murder in Gaslamp Quarter Shooting

SAN DIEGO, CA — A man who fatally shot another man inside a Gaslamp District commercial building was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder.

Brian Tyner, 38, shot 46-year-old Antwan Bluthenthal on Aug. 3, 2025, during a confrontation on the third floor of 701 Fifth Avenue, a building that housed two bars and a comedy club at the time.

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Prosecutors say the men were strangers to one another, but happened to cross paths in the third-floor hallway.

A prosecution trial brief states that Tyner and two women had been drinking at one of the bars "for hours" leading up to the shooting.

Minutes before the shooting, a witness saw Tyner holding a gun, while surveillance footage showed the two women and another man trying to calm down an "agitated" Tyner, the brief states.

Bluthenthal later walked through the hallway and when he passed Tyner, Tyner tapped him on the back, prosecutors alleged.

After Bluthenthal raised his hand to stop Tyner from advancing toward him, Tyner knocked Bluthenthal's arm away and Bluthenthal punched Tyner, the brief states. Bluthenthal then walked away, at which point Tyner produced a gun from a cross-body satchel he was wearing, followed Bluthenthal and shot him, according to the brief.

The victim died at the scene.

Tyner later told investigators that Bluthenthal became angry and confrontational after the men accidentally bumped into one another. Bluthenthal then punched him and put his hands around his neck, prompting him to shoot Bluthenthal in self-defense, he told investigators, according to the brief.

Tyner is slated to be sentenced in November. Along with the murder count, jurors convicted him of carrying a concealed firearm and brandishing a firearm.

— City News Service