Oakland: 12 people shot in less than 24 hours; three killed
By Natalie Neysa Alund Oakland Tribune
POSTED: 08/19/2013 05:47:27 AM PDT
UPDATED: 08/19/2013 05:47:37 AM PDT
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Oakland police investigate the scene as a woman’s body lies near a car that crashed during a shooting on MacArthur Boulevard between 72nd and 73rd Avenues in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2013. A man was wounded, though expected to live, and a child was hurt by flying glass. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Oakland police investigate the scene as a woman’s body lies near a car that crashed during a shooting on MacArthur Boulevard between 72nd and 73rd Avenues in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2013. A man was wounded, though expected to live, and a child was hurt by flying glass. (Jane Tyska/Bay…
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OAKLAND — Some were attending a birthday party. Others were working at a downtown hair salon or on their way to a fast-food restaurant.
In less than 24 hours over the weekend, 12 people were shot along Oakland streets — three of them fatally, their deaths marking the city’s 63rd, 64th and 65th homicides of the year.
As of Sunday evening, investigators had not identified a motive or a suspect in any of the shootings, and none appeared to be connected, police said.
The bloody spate of shootings began just after 11 p.m. Friday outside an East Oakland house where a birthday party was being held. Police say four men were shot in the 400 block of 105th Avenue in the Sobrante Park area.
One of the men killed was a 38-year-old Oakland resident. His name was not released. The other man killed has not been identified.
The 52-year-old unidentified resident of the house where the party was being held was wounded and was in critical condition Sunday.
Police said more than a dozen people were outside the residence when some other people arrived. Moments later, gunfire erupted, police said.
The unidentified man was pronounced dead at the scene. The 38-year-old man and the 52-year-old man were taken to a hospital, where the younger man died early Saturday. Police were trying to determine if a fourth man who showed up later at a hospital with gunshot wounds was also a victim from the party.
At 10:45 a.m. Saturday, a man was shot in North Oakland at 58th and McCall streets. Five hours later, four people were shot outside an Uptown District hair salon. And at 9:09 p.m., a man was shot at 60th Avenue and Camden Street in East Oakland; 30 minutes after that, a 39-year-old woman was fatally shot on her way to a fast-food restaurant. Her boyfriend was wounded.
“We need to have the political will to put the social structures in place so that people also know that they will not get away with these crimes,” said Councilwoman Libby Schaaf. “To end the “no snitching” culture. To have an adequately staffed police force. To continue to be the voices that help guide people to make better decisions.”
In the Saturday incidents, the man shot at 58th and McCall was able to get his own transportation to a hospital, where he was in stable condition Sunday.
The four people at the hair salon were shot after a thief they caught breaking into a car came back with a gun, police said. The daytime shooting took place in front of Badd Boyz Hair Salon and Barbering in the 1700 block of Telegraph Avenue.
“He had to be out of his mind,” Dwayne McCarther, a part owner of the salon, said of the shooter Sunday. “These guys don’t care anymore.”
The shooting was reported at about 4:10 p.m. after a man broke into a woman’s car and stole her purse, according to police. The woman’s boyfriend chased the thief and was able to get the purse back, but the thief soon returned on a bicycle with a gun, police said.
McCarther said one of his employees recognized the man and was planning to confront him when he pulled out the gun and began firing into the salon. Of the four wounded, three work at the salon, including one man who was shot four times, said McCarther. All four suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.
McCarther said the employees were looking out for their co-worker and trying to stop a burglary. He said police are reviewing surveillance footage from nearby businesses.
The man shot at 60th and Camden was also able to get his own transportation to hospital and was in stable condition Sunday, police said.
The 39-year-old woman was killed and her boyfriend wounded when a gunman opened fire on their car while they were on their way to a fast-food restaurant, police said.
The woman’s 5-year-old son, who was also in the car, was not wounded but was taken to the hospital as a precaution, police said. The couple was stopped in the car at the corner of 72nd and Lacey avenues about 9:40 p.m. when a gunman approached on foot, police said. After an exchange of words, the gunman began firing.
The 23-year-old boyfriend, who was hit in the shoulder, was able to drive away but crashed into a fence and a pole in the 7200 block of MacArthur Boulevard, a few blocks from the Eastmont Police Substation. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The couple, who had been together for three years, live near the shooting scene, police said. The child was in the custody of Child Protective Services on Sunday night.
On Sunday, Schaaf called upon the city’s residents for their help in ending the violence.
“These acts are decisions. The result of decisions … what we’ve seen is very few of these actions are random,” said Schaaf, who’s seen recent bloodshed in her district, which stretches from Montclair to Melrose.
Last month, 8-year-old Alaysha Carradine was fatally shot after a gunman rang the doorbell at an apartment in the 3400 block of Wilson Avenue, and started shooting when Alaysha’s friend opened the front door at 11:18 p.m.
One week later, on July 24, 66-year-old Judy Salamon, a neighborhood dog walker, was shot and killed while driving in the 2400 block of Fern Street, a few blocks from her home in the Fairfax district.
“I just hope that the people of Oakland can connect with these individuals and be the new voices in their heads to say there is another way to resolve conflict,” Schaaf said. “There is another way to gain respect.”
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering $15,000 to $25,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrests of suspects. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 510-238-3821 or a tip line at 510-773-2805.
Staff writers Harry Harris and David DeBolt contributed to this report. Contact Natalie Neysa Alund at 510-293-2469. Follow her at Twitter.com/nataliealund