2 wounded while interrupting Oakland catalytic converter theft
OAKLAND -- Two people were wounded on Friday night in Oakland amid a soaring level of violence across the San Francisco Bay Area related to catalytic converter thefts.
Over the last two months, there have been shootings linked to catalytic converter thefts in Castro Valley, Berkeley, East Oakland, Pacifica and San Leandro.
The latest incident took place at 9 p.m. Friday in the 1900 block of 42nd Ave. in Oakland. Officers were alerted to the shooting by the city's gunshot detection system.
Once on the scene, officers located a man and a woman with shooting injuries. According to a preliminary police investigation, the victims were shot after they interrupted someone trying to steal a catalytic converter.
The pair was taken to a hospital and were in stable condition.
The catalytic converter shooting was just one incident of deadly street violence in Oakland on Friday night. A fatal shooting was reported about 8:45 p.m. in the 10200 block of International Boulevard.
Arriving officers found a man and woman, both Oakland residents, with gunshot wounds. The man -- identified a 25-year-old Pablo Garcia Jr. -- died at the scene and the woman was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
At about midnight, another shooting occurred in the 10200 block of International Boulevard. Police officers located the victim at a hospital. The victim had gotten a ride or drove to the hospital following the shooting.
Police said they are investigating whether the two shootings are related.
