by Keith Burbank, Bay City News
Six adults were wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon in East Oakland at a combined school campus, according to police, the mayor and fire officials.
Police were called at 12:49 p.m. to a shooting in the 8200 block of Fontaine Street, near Interstate Highway 580. The shooting was at the King Estate campus in the Oakland Unified School District. The shooting occurred at the combined campus of Rudsdale Continuation and Newcomer high schools.
Paramedics took six people to hospitals. Two of the adults are in critical condition and one is in stable condition, Alameda Health System spokesperson Eleanor Ajala said. Also in the school complex are BayTech Charter School and the headquarters of Sojourner Truth Independent Study. No students were at Sojourner Truth Independent Study, school district officials said.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said on Twitter that Wednesday’s gun violence “shocks the soul — our schools are sanctuaries for our children. The unbridled access to firearms in our country is inexcusable.” Schaaf said at 3:09 p.m. that the scene was safe again.
Officers are looking for at least one shooter but were unable provide information on any suspects and no suspects are in custody. Police said at a news conference late Wednesday afternoon that they received no reports from parents of outstanding students.
Just Tuesday, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said police were taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to gun violence in the city.
More than a half dozen people have been killed mainly in shootings in fewer than two weeks. Violence in Oakland has erupted again since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020.
Before that, Oakland’s Ceasefire program had cut killings and shootings in half over several years. Sasaki said counseling is available to students affected by Wednesday’s shooting.