6 men injured in shooting in Oakland’s district
By: Harry Harris
OAKLAND — Six men were wounded early Saturday in a shooting in the Uptown district, authorities said.
Two of the wounded men, who police believe were in a dispute that resulted in the gunfire, were later arrested.
The shooting happened about 12:10 a.m. Saturday near the intersection of Williams Street and Telegraph Avenue.
That is part of the First Friday event area which had ended a few hours earlier but where many people were still hanging out.
Authorities said that a 20-year-old Vallejo man and an 18-year-old Vallejo man were in different groups with other people who got into a dispute that ended with gunfire. They were both wounded and taken to a hospital where they were listed in critical but stable condition and placed under arrest.
Two guns were recovered at the scene, police said.
The gunfire also wounded another 18-year-old man, a 32-year-old Redwood City man and a 46-year-old Brentwood man, authorities said. They were all hospitalized Saturday but their conditions were not available. A 27-year-old who was wounded managed to walk a few blocks away before he was found on Franklin Street.
Authorities said the Brentwood and Redwood City men had attended First Friday. It was not immediately known if the other men wounded had attended the event.
Police are still investigating what started the dispute that resulted in the gunfire and other suspects are being sought. Officers were in the area at the time of the gunfire and bullets broke out a passenger and rear window of a parked patrol car, police spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson said.
The Oakland Police Officers’ Association posted pictures on Facebook of the patrol car’s shattered windows.
“In the wake of yet more serious violence downtown associated with First Friday, placing Oakland residents and police officers in danger, city leaders need to rethink this event,” police union president Sgt. Barry Donelan said in a text message. “Gun battles on crowded Oakland city streets are unacceptable and that is what we saw last night.”
Organizers of First Friday did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call police at 510-238-3426.
Staff writer David DeBolt contributed to this report.
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