It was yet another violent weekend in Oakland, with three fatal shootings Friday and five people shot outside the Regal Cinemas Jack London Square on Sunday. This of course doesn't help the city's perennial PR problem typically summarized by the phrase, "You might get shot over there."
Friday was a big night in Oakland's Uptown, with huge crowds gathered in the streets and bars for the monthly Art Murmur. But that night there were actually four homicides in total in just a couple of hours in different parts of the city, as well as a non-fatal officer-involved shooting.
First off, around 6 p.m., Oakland Police officers fired at a man driving a vehicle that was trying to run down a woman near 7th and Clay. The man was not hit, but he crashed his car into a parked police car, and after a brief trip to the hospital, was arrested.
Then at 6:25 p.m. officers responded to a call on the 1000 block of 102nd Avenue where they found a 67-year-old man dead from a gunshot wound. They arrested 70-year-old Davis Bennett on suspicion of murder.
Then an hour later police found an 18-year-old Richmond man lying in the middle of the street on the 1600 block of 11th Street in West Oakland, dead of a gunshot wound. Police have not made an arrest in that case, but they do have information about a suspect vehicle.
Just before 11 p.m. police responded to a call reporting a murder in a mobile home on the 2400 block of 24th Avenue. They found a dead male at the scene, and the anonymous caller did identify the killer, however police say he remains at large.
Saturday was relatively quiet, but then on Sunday, around 9:20 p.m., some idiot open-fired on the crowd outside the Regal Jack London Cinemas, just a block away from Jack London Square, injuring five people and sending people scattering. The injuries are all said to be non-fatal. And, of course, no arrests have been made.
