Police investigate shootings in East Oakland neighborhood

OAKLAND — Two teenagers were fatally shot Sunday in an East Oakland neighborhood in the city’s 50th and 51st homicides of the year, authorities said.

Police said a man was later detained in connection with the shootings, but provided no further information about him.

At 5:53 p.m., police responded to reports of ShotSpotter activity near Highland Avenue and East 26th Street in the city’s Highland Terrace neighborhood.

When officers arrived, they found a 17-year-old boy lying in the roadway in the 2100 block of East 26th Street near Morgan Plaza Park and suffering from at least one gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

A second 17-year-old managed to obtain transportation to a hospital, but he was later pronounced dead.

Police had no preliminary details about a possible motive, but it is believed the two victims knew each other, authorities said.

The killings, part of a deadly wave of shootings driven by a rise in firearm use and personal-contact limits for violence prevention programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, were the 50th and 51st homicides investigated by Oakland police this year, and come days after a fatal shooting last week and police-released identities for two separate fatal shootings earlier this month.

Last year at this time police had investigated 24 homicides in the city, and did not investigate their 50th homicide until August 5. The 100th and 101st homicides both came on Nov. 9, 2020, and the year closed with 109 homicides, 102 of which were classified as murders.

Before last year, the last time Oakland recorded more than 100 homicides was 2012, when there were 131, with 126 classified as murders.

In 2011 and 2012, the city logged its 50th homicides respectively on June 9 and June 10. In 2013, a year that saw 92 total homicides, police did not log 50 homicides until July 5. In 2014, a year with 86 total homicides, police did not investigate a 50th homicide until July 31.

In 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively, they came on July 21, Sept. 14 and Sept. 25. In 2018, the city’s 50th homicide happened on August 27.

Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $20,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the suspect the killings. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3821 or 510-238-7950 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.