Weekend Fatal Shootings Bring Oakland Homicide Count to 65 for Year
OAKLAND (BCN) -- The deaths of three men fatally shot over the weekend and another who died last week from wounds suffered earlier this month in Oakland raised the city's homicide count for the year to 65, police said.
As of Wednesday morning, the average number of deaths is about one about every three days, according to authorities.
The deaths come a week after the Oakland City Council voted to divert money from the police department.
The latest fatal shooting was about 11 p.m. Saturday when a Stockton man died of gunshot wounds he suffered in the 6200 block of Hayes Street, police said. The man was shot multiple times and died at Highland Hospital.
On Friday about 11 p.m., officers were sent to investigate reports of gunfire in the 5400 block of Bancroft Avenue, according to police. When officers arrived, citizens flagged them down and told them an Oakland man was suffering from multiple bullets wounds behind 5477 Bancroft Ave., police said.
The man died at the scene, according to police.
At 3 p.m. Friday, officers were flagged down by citizens who said a person had been shot in the 2200 block of Chestnut Street, police said.
Officers responded and found a San Leandro man had been shot multiple times. He died at the scene, police said.
On Thursday, an Oakland man died at Highland Hospital from injuries suffered in a shooting June 16 in the 600 block of 23rd Street.
Police are not releasing the names of the victims right now, according to the Alameda County coroner's bureau.
At a news conference on Monday, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong denounced the $18 million in cuts to his budget voted by the City Council. He said it would reduce police response and decrease the number of new recruits by eliminating two academy classes over the next two years.
"Today, we find ourselves in a crisis," Armstrong told reporters. "We already have a tough time responding to the high number of calls we get. This will make it tougher, having less officers in the field."
That "cut" may not be a cut at all, according to Council President Nikki Fortunado-Bas.
"The action that we took on the budget was reducing a proposed increase by the Mayor from $27 million more, to just $9 million more," Fortunato-Bas said. "It was not a cut."
The council president said they simply decided not to increase the number of police academies by two as the mayor's budget proposal recommended.
Each killing is under investigation by police. Anyone with information can call the Police Department's Homicide Section at (510) 238-3821 or the tip line at (510) 238-7950.
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