UPS Driver Caught In Oakland Shootout Walks Away Unhurt
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- A UPS driver was caught in the crossfire of a gang shootout in Oakland Tuesday.
Police say the shootout started at a liquor store on 30th and Linden, and continued down the block, just as a UPS driver was rounding the corner.
The driver, who asked not to be identified, spoke exclusively to KPIX 5's Christin Ayers, telling her that at first, he didn't recognize the popping sound he heard.
"I thought I heard firecrackers, and it wasn't firecrackers," he said.
The popping sound he heard was gunfire.
The driver said bullets started whizzing by as at least one person opened fire into a passing car, so he backed his truck up, jumped up and ran for cover.
By the time police had arrived, the truck had been ransacked, missing two packages, a cell phone, and the driver's backpack.
Neighbor Mike Thompson told KPIX 5 that fr weeks, that stretch of Linden had been a battleground, with rival groups exchanging gunfire.
"AK-47 is what I heard last week. But, yeah, a lot of gunshots rang out the last couple of nights and the night before," Thompson said.
The driver did not think he was targeted, and that he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.