Oakland police revise number of people injured in shooting at Juneteenth event
Though Oakland Police originally said that 15 people were shot during a Juneteenth event that turned violent last week in the city, the department is now dropping that number down to 14, according to police spokesperson Paul Chambers.
Oakland Police had initially counted another gunshot victim who was shot the same night as part of the melee near Lake Merritt, but that person's injuries stemmed from a double shooting that occurred in the area of 10th Avenue and East 24th Street, a separate case, Chambers said Tuesday. Two people have been arrested in connection to that shooting.
Fourteen people were shot, one suffered an injury not related to a gunshot, and some officers were assaulted after a sideshow broke out into fights and then gunfire during the Juneteenth celebration in the 400 block of Grand Avenue last Wednesday.
At about 8:15 p.m., approximately 20 vehicles including ATVs and dirt bikes initiated an illegal sideshow, Mitchell said. During the sideshow, someone walked across the hood of a vehicle, which lead to multiple people exiting the car and "violently attacking" the person. This then led to multiple fights breaking out along Grand Avenue between Euclid and Bellevue avenues.
"Unfortunately, these fights escalated into multiple people discharging firearms, with more than 50 shell casings being recovered," said Mitchell in a Thursday press conference.
As officers arrived and began to render aid to injured people, Mitchell said individuals within the crowd began to attack officers. Deputy Chief James Beere said that officers were punched in the face and upper body.
In total, 14 people went to the hospital with gunshot wounds and one person was treated for an undisclosed injury. The victims are between 20 to 30 years of age, Mitchell said. Their injuries ranged from minor gunshot or flesh wounds to loss of fingers.