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One person was killed and at least five others were injured in a shooting Saturday evening at Lake Merritt in Auckland near the city’s June celebration.
Police said the shooting was reported around 6:22 p.m. at 2,200 blocks on Lakeshore Street, where an estimated 1,000 people had gathered.
Officer John Watson, a spokeswoman for the Auckland Police Department, said one of the victims, a 22-year-old man, was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital. It added that the other five victims, a male aged between 16 and 27 and a woman in her twenties, were in stable condition.
Investigators said they were trying to determine the motive for the shooting and identify the suspects. Police said two armed men fleeing the scene were arrested, but it was not clear if they were responsible for the shooting.
“Tonight, it was a joyous occasion at our Lake Merritt, marred by a senseless act of gun violence,” Auckland Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement. Police in the area were caring for the victims, and arrested two people with firearms near the scene. The investigation is ongoing and will determine whether they were linked to the shooting. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims, and I would like to thank our officers for their prompt response.”
A man who was jogging in the area said Lakeshore Street was packed with cars, some parked in the middle of the street and no occupants inside, when the shooting took place.
I heard gunshots. “It was really fast,” Andrew Simpson, 21, said, “Out of the corner of my eye I saw a guy with a gun pointing at a car. Everyone started running and screaming. They were screaming ‘We shot us!’ I didn’t really understand what was happening. Hundreds of people were running .people were jumping in their cars and getting off them.”
Simpson, who said he couldn’t see much detail in the chaos, also started walking down a side street.
He said, “A few people offered me a ride.” They were saying, “We have to get out of here.” It was so crazy.”
Witnesses said people in the dense crowd ran in opposite directions around the lake shore when shots sounded. Some ran straight into the water. A police helicopter that had been flying all day returned and hovered over the area.
A black Oldsmobile convertible and a silver Nissan Murano, surrounded by no fewer than 35 street shell shells, were surrounded by yellow police tape along Lakeshore Street near the intersection with Brooklyn Street as dusk fell.
Most of the remaining protesters along the 2,200 block had dispersed by 8:30 p.m. Saturday as investigators continued to work at the crime scene.
OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 19: Officers and paramedics respond to a multi-injury shooting at the 2000 Building of Lakeshore Street in Oakland, California, in Lake Merritt on Saturday, June 19, 2021 (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)
The shooting took place about a mile north of the Lake Merritt Coliseum, where hundreds of people gathered throughout the day to commemorate June 19, 1865, the day the last slaves in Texas learned that President Lincoln had signed the two-year Emancipation Proclamation. Previously. On Thursday, President Joe Biden signed legislation marking June as a federal holiday.
Dozens of police officers rushed to the area to control the crowds and maintain the crime scene.
It was not clear early Saturday evening whether there was any connection between the shooting and the Juneteenth events, which were scheduled to take place from noon to 8 p.m. on the southern shore of the lake. People regularly gather in the area where the shooting took place on other days, especially on weekends.
Simpson said he passed by the runway earlier in the evening, about a mile south, and saw a quiet, friendly crowd.
“There were a lot of families. People were dancing.
This is the 59th murder that Oakland police are investigating this year. Last year at this time, the police investigated 32 murders in the city.
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $35,000 in reward for information leading to the arrest of the shooter or shooters. Anyone with information can contact the police at 510-238-3821 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.
Bay Area News Group photographer Dylan Bucher and reporters David Debolt and Jesse Biden contributed to this story.
OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 19: Officers and paramedics respond to a multi-injury shooting at the 2000 Building of Lakeshore Street in Oakland, California, Saturday, June 19, 2021 (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group).
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