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Shooting In Oakland California Leaves One Teen Girl Dead, 3 Others Injured

By Dee Sharp
Published on: 06:27 PST, Jun 15, 2016

A shooting in Oakland, California, on Tuesday evening left a teen girl dead and three others injured. According to SFGate, the shooting in Oakland happened near a vigil for two drowning victims who died over the Memorial Day weekend at a reservoir in Stanislaus County.

The shooting, which occurred in downtown Oakland, happened in broad daylight and witnesses reported that two gunmen were on foot when they shot victims along half a city block, according to Lt. Carlos Gonzalez. The incident took place at 13th and Franklin in Oakland, and windows of businesses in the area were also shot out by the gunfire.

The shooting was near a large family gathering at the Venue on 14th Street, where family members were holding a vigil for the two Oakland teens who drowned Memorial Day weekend. There were apparently dozens of people inside and outside the Venue after a funeral that was held for the two Oakland teens. Sources say that at least some of the victims were connected to the vigil. The 16-year-old girl who died was shot in the neck, and the other three victims were male and female ranging in age from mid-teens to early-20s, according to police. The girl, whose identity is not known at this time, died at the hospital.

Mason Stone, 39, a witness who was walking about a block away from the vigil, said he heard multiple gunshots fired in rapid succession about 5:41 p.m. on Tuesday and said that people were “running every which way.” Stone said he then ducked behind a car until the shots stopped.

Stone said people started running toward the corner, and it appeared that someone was hit. Stone then immediately left the area.

“The really scary thing, coming on the heels of the shooting in Orlando, you wonder is it gang-related or is it a crazy gunman.”

Stone said, “I guess you figure sooner or later if you live in a city like that you…realized anything can happen at any time.”

A witness who didn’t want to be identified saw the shooting start after an argument among a group of men who were playing a dice game along the street — the vigil participants were “caught in the crossfire.” Oscar Edwards, a security guard at the Venue, said he was inside when the shooting occurred and was shocked at the “timing and location” of the shooting.

“This is very strange. Downtown Oakland has changed a lot. Downtown is one of the safest places now. This was an isolated incident.”

Perhaps Edwards feels that downtown Oakland is safe, but according to statistics, the overall crime rate in downtown Oakland is 196 percent higher than the national average. For every 100,000 people, there are 24.05 daily crimes that occur downtown. Given the population of Oakland is almost 400,000, that means on average almost 100 crimes happen daily in downtown Oakland. However, downtown Oakland is safer compared to 10 percent of other California cities.

This shooting in Oakland comes in the wake of one of the deadliest mass shootings the U.S. has experienced: the Orlando, Florida, shooting at the Pulse nightclub early Sunday morning, when a gunman killed 49 people and injured about 53 others.

According to Vox, the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a nonprofit organization that tracks mass shootings in the United States, indicates that as of Sunday, there have been 76 days this year in which mass shootings have happened and 88 days where no mass shootings have occurred. The shooting in Orlando was the 133rd mass shooting in 2016 alone in the United States. It was also the 15th mass shooting in Florida and the fourth in Orlando. The night before the mass shooting at the Pulse, popular YouTube star Christina Grimmie was shot and killed by Kevin James Loibl.

What are your thoughts on the shooting in Oakland, California? Please share comments below.

[Image via Pavel L Photo and Video/Shutterstock]

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