Four people were fatally shot and one was injured at two separate scenes Wednesday in East Oakland neighborhoods.
Shortly before 1:30 a.m., police responded to reports of a shooting along the 1100 block of 89th Avenue between B and D streets.
When officers arrived, they found two victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, a police spokesperson said.
Some hours later, just before 5 a.m., officers responded to a shooting report on 18th Avenue between East 12th Street and International Boulevard. Officers arrived and found a victim suffering from a gunshot wound. Despite emergency life-saving measures, that victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Soon after, investigators learned a second victim from the 18th Avenue shooting arrived at a hospital with gunshot wounds. That victim’s condition was not immediately available Wednesday morning.
Just after 11 a.m., a third shooting happened around the 2100 block of 106th Avenue in between Sunnyside Street and Bancroft Avenue.
Dispatchers received reports of a car accident but when officers arrived at the scene, they found a man inside the car with gunshot wounds, according to Oakland police Cmdr. David Elsey at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
No information about shooting suspects or associated vehicles was immediately released. The fatal shooting victims’ identities were not immediately released, pending next-of-kin notification from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office coroner’s bureau.
“Homicide investigators have been working around the clock all morning so the details I can provide are limited due to not having all of the pieces of the puzzle to put together yet,” Elsey said.
Interim Oakland Police Chief Darren Allison said it is crucial that the department take “proactive measures” against the rise in homicides and gun-related incidents including use of the Violent Crimes Operations team to identify potential suspects and firearm tracing analysis.
“Although we have seen a number of disputes result in gun violence recently, we know that gang group violence still represent the majority of the violence in the city of Oakland,” Allison said, adding that the department would focus its ceasefire strategy to target people in the “most active” gangs or groups.