Teen Victims Among Latest Wave Of Oakland Deadly Violence
OAKLAND (BCN) - The fatal shooting of 15-year-old Lovell Hadnot on Saturday was the latest in a string of violence in Oakland in the past two weeks, much of it involving teenagers.
"It's been a really violent year for our students," said Barbara McClung, the mental health services coordinator for Oakland Unified School District.
She said the district is seeing more 15-, 16-, and 17-year-olds involved in violent crime, instead of 18- to 21-year-olds.
"We had 15 or 16 homicides last school year for the whole school year," McClung said. "We're coming up on that number now and we're not even halfway through this school year."
Hadnot, a sophomore at Mandela High School, was shot around 5:10 p.m. in the 5800 block of Bancroft Avenue.
"He was a very well liked child, very well liked at school," principal Robin Glover said. "He was constantly trying to make something of himself."
Two other teens were killed last weekend in unrelated shootings, police said.
One of them, 17-year-old Christopher Jones, was shot as he helped his older sister put her 5-month-old daughter into a car in the 7400 block of Fresno Street at about 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 31, Oakland police Officer Jeff Thomason said.
His sister was also injured in the shooting, but the baby was not hit by the gunfire, Thomason said.
Jones was a senior at East Oakland School of the Arts, part of Castlemont High School, assistant principal John Lynch said.
He was one of about 50 seniors at the school and was waiting to hear back from the four-year universities he'd applied to for the fall, Lynch said.
"Chris was definitely not in a gang," Lynch said.
Jones' senior classmates met with his parents shortly after he was killed to discuss his death, Lynch said.
The seniors then took it upon themselves to meet with the underclassmen to discuss Jones' murder and recent violence in their community, Lynch said.
"Our kids are really resilient," Lynch said. "They're dealing with it the best they can."
Jones' family and friends came together Sunday night for a candlelight vigil and a musical celebration of his life at Seventh Avenue Baptist Church, Lynch said.
Less than six hours after Jones was murdered, around 12:10 a.m. on Jan. 1, 18-year-old Darnell Barr was fatally shot.
Barr, a Bay Point resident, was shot in the 3100 block of High Street, and was Oakland's first homicide victim of the new year, Thomason said.
Barr dropped out of high school after about two years, Bay Point friend Deshari White said.
White said it was possible that Barr's shooting was gang related.
"I taught him a lot, tried to keep him out of that situation," White said. "But there are a lot of gangs out in Oakland."
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said was very concerned about the recent shootings and homicides, especially those involving young people.
"I'm working closely with the police and our Measure Y Street Outreach Workers to address these incidents head on," she said.
Measure Y was passed in 2004 to provide approximately $19 million every year for 10 years for additional police officers, fire services and violence protection.
"One of the long-term strategies is what I was doing in East Oakland this past weekend, organizing neighbors to partner with the city to take back their neighborhoods," Quan said.
Last Tuesday night, tensions between two groups led to a shooting at the intersection of 89th Avenue and D Street, Thomason said.
Six people were injured, including one bystander who was watching TV in his apartment when a bullet passed through the wall and hit him, Thomason said.
Two other men, Allen Collins, 22, and Donald Johnson, 46, were both found fatally shot in separate shootings in West Oakland on Tuesday and Wednesday, Thomason said.
The fatal shooting of Ishmael Knudson on Saturday marked Oakland's fifth homicide of 2011.
Knudson, 29, was found suffering from gunshot wounds around 7:30 p.m. in front of Campbell Market at 1539 Market St. and was pronounced dead at the scene, Joshi said.
Oakland police responded to reports of a shooting last night around 9:50 p.m., Officer J. Moore said.
A man was found suffering from a gunshot wound in the 7700 block of Ney Avenue, Moore said.
The victim was transported to a local hospital and was reported to be in critical condition as of 2:50 a.m. Monday.
(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
