As we mark the halfway point in the year, Oakland has just marked its 66th homicide of 2021, with someone killed on average every three days in the city so far since January.

The 66th killing of the year in Oakland happened Wednesday night at 11:10 p.m. on the 1400 block of 90th Avenue, near International Boulevard. As Bay Area News Group reports, a 21-year-old man was shot and killed while sitting in a car with a woman, who was also wounded.

This was one of five separate shootings that took place within a span of eight hours last night in Oakland, in five different East Oakland locations, with four other people wounded and expected to survive.

Last year, Oakland counted 100 homicides, which was a 47% uptick from 2019 and a marker of a violent year in multiple American cities that some attributed to the pandemic. But this year, the city is on track to see a 30% jump over last year's homicide count, which would be nearly double the homicide rate of just two years prior.

Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong has been speaking out to the media in the last week condemning a city council decision to reallocate $18 million of his department's budget to fund violence prevention measures and social services.

"We find ourselves in a crisis," Armstrong said during a Monday news conference. "We see clearly that crime is out of control in the city of Oakland and our response was for less police resources."

Over the weekend, the homicide count rose to 65 with three separate homicides, and one man died of wounds he suffered from a shooting earlier in the month, as KRON4 reported.

One man from Stockton was shot and killed Saturday night on the 6200 block of Hayes Street in East Oakland. Another man was fatally shot on Bancroft Avenue on Friday night, and on Friday afternoon, a San Leandro man was fatally shot in on Chestnut Street in West Oakland.

Each killing is under investigation.

Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $15,000 in reward money in each fatal shooting for information leading to the arrests of the suspects. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3821 or 510-238-7950 or 510-238-3426 or 510-238-3326 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.

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