On Thursday, police said they are still looking for at least two suspects in an Oakland school campus shooting on Wednesday that they believe is gang-related.
Six people over the age of 18 were shot dead and taken to local hospitals, police said. Police believe the shooting was targeted, but it is unclear what led to the incident.
Two students, two staff members, a counselor and a security guard were injured in the shooting. Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong told a news conference on Thursday that two of the victims were in critical but stable condition, one person was in stable condition and three people were discharged from the hospital. .
Oakland Police Department Deputy Chief Darren Allison said Wednesday the shooting happened around 12:45 p.m. at the Rudsdale Newcomer High School portion of the King Estates campus, which is home to four schools that also include Sojourner Truth Independent Study and BayTech Charter School.
Armstrong said authorities are looking for at least two shooters and another accomplice, but there may be more people involved, KGO-TV reported. No one was in custody Thursday.
“The individuals responsible for this are still in our community armed and dangerous,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong said the shooters targeted a specific person and began shooting outside the school before breaking through the main entrance. He said investigators were still working to determine what precipitated the shooting and who the shooters were aiming for.
He called the incident “completely unacceptable” and said more than 30 shots were fired, which was likely gang-related, KGO-TV reported.
“Today’s gun violence at Sojourner Truth School shocks the soul – our schools are sanctuaries for our children,” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a tweet on Wednesday. “The rampant access to guns in our country is inexcusable.”
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John Sasaki, spokesman for the Oakland Unified School District, said in a statement that district officials “have no information beyond what Oakland police are reporting.” He said the Sojourner Truth Independent Study headquarters had no students.
Outside a nearby church converted into a makeshift parent-student reunification site, Oakland City Council members Loren Taylor and Treva Reid met frustrated teachers, parents and community leaders who were fed up with the spate of shootings plaguing the city, including eight homicides in the past eight years. length of day.
“It’s way past the crisis point,” said Taylor, who is running for mayor and lives nearby.
“We have to make sure we put everyone on deck to fight these guns and flying bullets. This is going to require early intervention and eyes and ears on the ground,” Taylor said. “It must be our top priority to keep our residents safe.”
Reid, whose district is where the school shooting took place, said she rushed to the school as police looked to see if the shooters were still there.
“You’re standing here where the directors were in shock, they don’t have the answers. They’re dealing with having to use their hands to save the lives of the victims who were in front of them,” she said “Now we have to work to restore that trust so that students, their parents and faculty will return to this campus. When will that happen? I can’t tell you.”
She said city and school officials are already developing strategies to meet the needs of these schools. Overall, Reid said the past two weeks of deadly violence have been emotionally draining for the city.
“Dealing with all the homicides and being on the scene still seeing the bodies of loved ones on the ground is traumatic,” Reid said. “We certainly feel the weight of our community. They feel like they are the prey and the hostage. They can’t go out, can’t go to the park, can’t go to the gas station, can’t go to the grocery store.
“And now parents feel like they can’t take their kids to school and have peace and safety and security. This paralyzing weight of this violence affects all of us, especially those on this campus.
Contribute: The Associated Press
