A 64-year-old Army veteran from San Joaquin County was caught in the crossfire and killed in a Saturday night double-shooting near San Leandro, and while another woman was shot too, police are detaining her because they say “She is a person who is involved in this crime.”
When Oakland’s 28th homicide of the year took place Saturday night at the above gas station at International Boulevard and 102nd Avenue, Bay Area News Group reported that a victim had been killed, but his identity not yet made public. Early this morning, KTVU was able to confirm that the victim was 64-year-old Army veteran Rodney Davis, a resident of Ripon in San Joaquin County, and worse yet, eyewitnesses say he was an innocent bystander who had nothing to do with the conflict.
Another woman was shot, 21-year-old Tyja Braswell, who remains in Highland Hospital. According to KTVU, “she is paralyzed and suffering from gunshot wounds to the spine, chest and stomach.” KTVU also obtained security video of this incident, which is difficult to watch, not only because of the rampant cigarette smoking next to a gas pump, but because Braswell screams “Help me! Help me!” after being shot, and absolutely no one helps her.
Just prior to the shooting, Braswell can be heard speaking loudly to someone inside the store, and saying "Don't shoot me!"
Davis was in Oakland visiting his girlfriend, and his family remembers him as someone who did not normally get caught up in this kind of thing. "I loved him. It's heartbreaking," his sister Renee Morgan told KTVU. "Rodney was the go-to person. If you needed help in doing anything, Rodney was there."
But Braswell is being kept in custody in the hospital by the Oakland Police Department, and not even her family is being allowed in to see her. She is effectively detained, and she is considered being part of the investigation into why the shooting occurred.
"She is a person who is involved in this crime and we want the chance to see what her role in this event was," Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong told KTVU. “What I can confirm is that there was an exchange of gunfire. What I can say is that we're trying to confirm is who fired the weapon and for what reason."
According to the Bay Area News Group, “A reward of up to $15,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the case.” Anyone with information can call the Oakland Police Department at (510) 238-3821, or Crime Stoppers at (510) 777-8572.
Related: In the Wake of Three Highway Shootings, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf Wants Cameras on I-80 [SFist]
Image: Google Street View