OAKLAND (BCN) — In a span of less than 24 hours Monday and Tuesday in Oakland, shootings claimed four lives, including two Muslim men, police said. The killings this year in Oakland now total 93.
The latest homicide occurred just after 2 p.m. Tuesday near 14th Street and Broadway in the city’s downtown near City Hall. Gunfire killed one man and sent another to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to police.
On Monday, a 48-year-old woman died from gunfire just before 8:30 p.m. in the 2200 block of East 20th Street in East Oakland. About 45 minutes earlier, a 27-year-old man and a 59-year-old man were shot in the 3100 block of Telegraph Avenue near a mosque.
The older man was inside a building when he was shot. The 27-year-old man was outside. A 19-year-old was also hit by gunfire and either drove or got a ride to a hospital. Police did not provide his condition.
Police spokesperson Kim Armstead said the shooting involved more than one suspect firing on a crowd of people. The suspects were inside a vehicle, Armstead said. The men who died had been attending prayers at the mosque before the shooting, according to the San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“We are deeply saddened by these horrific murders and urge anyone in the community with information to immediately contact Oakland Police,” said CAIR-SFBA executive director Zahra Billoo. “We urge police to be swift and thorough in their investigation.”
KRON On is streaming live news now
Armstead said police are uncertain of the motive for the shooting. Deputy Chief James Beere said police are unsure if the shooters were targeting one person. The names of the victims were not immediately available from Oakland police.
As police were investigating the killings, four other shootings occurred, including one that sent a 17-year-old girl to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. She was shot in the 2600 block of International Boulevard, Beere said.
In addition to the gun violence, two police officers were injured in the 3000 block of Telegraph Avenue by a suspected DUI driver. The officers were providing traffic control for the investigation into the shooting that killed the two Muslim men.
Both officers are expected to live, and the suspect was arrested.
Copyright © 2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved.
