Update: Oakland youth football coach describes chaos when shots rang out at game
OAKLAND – The coach for local youth football on Monday described the chaos that unfolded when a shooting injured three people during a game at Oakland Technical High Sunday afternoon.
The two teams of kids were playing the game they love on the football field Sunday at around 1 p.m. when shots rang out in front of hundreds of people watching the game at the Oakland high school.
"I heard gunshots and I had to take cover and get the kids down with me," said Walte Orr, who Is president of the Oakland Dynamites Football team. He's known as Coach Chewy. "A lot of us had to lay on the ground and do what we can to protect them, basically."
The youth football team for ten-year-old kids was playing a Fresno team at Oakland Tech High school when bullets flew into the bleachers hitting a six-year-old girl, a man and a woman. All three were rushed to an area hospital for treatment. They were not critically injured. The shooting victims have not been identified
The Dynamites, a nonprofit youth football and cheer organization, posted an apology Monday morning on Facebook and said their goal is to create a safe and fun environment for youth.
"We don't condone any of the senseless violence that occurred today," the team's statement said. "We are also gonna cooperate with the police and city officials to see that all parties involved go to jail!"
Oakland police are searching for suspects in the shooting and asking the public for any information or evidence related to the incident.
"We are looking for physical descriptions, photos, videos that anyone at this event may have," Oakland police chief LeRonne Armstrong said Monday. "This could have been a horrible tragedy."
Armstrong said that several people in the stands had guns and that they knew one another.
This isn't the league's first incident involving a gun. In February of last year, there was a fatal shooting in Oakland's Concordia Park during one of the team's practices in the presence of dozens of children. A suspect was arrested in that shooting.
Orr said this is not a Dynamite Football problem, but rather an Oakland problem. Armstrong has vowed to provide security.
"This is the second year in a row for the Oakland police department to provide security at football practices and at football games, just so kids can play football in peace without the threat of gunfire," he said. "We are not going to allow these people. these individuals that bring guns to this environment, to get away with this and stop these young people from participating in these activities. We will not allow them to do it."
Three other shootings occurred in Oakland Sunday. One person was killed in a shooting in East Oakland off 90th Avenue. Another person was wounded on 14th Street and a third victim was located in West Oakland off 30th Street.
One arrest was made in the four shootings.
"It was a challenging day yesterday," Armstrong said.
He said police and Crime Stoppers are offering $15,000 for information leading to an arrest in the shooting at Oakland Technical High School. Police have some video of the event, but they are not releasing it until they are sure who opened fire.
The Dynamites also announced that the team would be holding a 6 p.m. "parent meeting/prayer circle" at the field on Monday.
OPD is investigating and have asked anyone with information to contact the police felony assault unit at (510) 238-3426.