Oakland Mayor Calls for Federal Gun Control After Shooting Leaves 6 Wounded

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf on Thursday called on the “obstructionists in Congress” to take action to stop the flow of guns into Oakland after a school shooting wounded six people Wednesday. 

“I want to acknowledge that Oakland, California, has long struggled with gun violence and has made incredible progress,” Schaaf said in a press conference Thursday. “And yet we will never be able to address this alone, or in isolation, without federal leadership.”

The shooting is the latest in a series of devastating violent incidents in Oakland, with nine people killed in as many days and more injured. Four of those deaths occurred in a 24-hour period between Sept. 19 and 20. The spate of homicides has prompted city leadership to announce a ramping up of police presence in Oakland, and to renew calls for federal gun-control reform. 

Wednesday also marks the second school shooting in Oakland in as many months. In the previous incident at Madison Park Academy, one middle school student reportedly accidentally shot another. 

Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said officers suspect the shooting on Wednesday specifically targeted at least one person — and possibly multiple people — at the school. He said footage at the King Estates campus, which contains three schools, showed at least two shooters and an accomplice, but there could have been more.

“We do believe that this incident is group- and gang-related,” Armstrong said. “We believe that this is related to ongoing conflicts in our city that has driven violence.” 

Armstrong said that in the footage, two shooters can be seen entering Rudsdale High School and that, soon after, they appear to identify a target and begin shooting. 

In the end, six adults, including two students, were wounded but survived, although two remain in critical condition. Officers determined that over 30 rounds were fired on the campus.

Chief Armstrong said footage of the shooting is still being reviewed, but will be released to the public eventually. No arrests have yet been made. 

Guillermo Cespedes, chief of Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention, said the department has been working hard to interrupt the cycles of violence occurring in Oakland. 

After any shooting, violence-prevention staff are dispatched to speak with victims and family members. The staff try to address the needs of victims and direct them to services as well as assess for the possibility of retaliation. By speaking with those affected and “ensuring cooler heads prevail,” Cespedes says, they can break that cycle. 

Of the shootings that occurred earlier this month, Cespedes says several could have a high potential for retaliation, and the department has even temporarily relocated some families to prevent more attacks. He declined to share which specific cases he was referring to. 

“I can tell you without a doubt that some of the work that’s taken place in the last month has kept the nine homicides from becoming 18 or 21 or more,” Cespedes said. 

Cespedes added that he agreed with Mayor Schaaf that federal movement on gun control was needed to curb the killings in Oakland. 

After the most recent homicide on Tuesday, Armstrong announced in a press conference that he would be reorganizing and redeploying officers to “provide a greater presence in areas where we’ve seen violence continue to spike.”  

That shooting death marked the 96th homicide in the city this year, compared to 102 by the same time last year. 

“Group and gang violence continues to be the predominant driver of violence in the city of Oakland,” Armstrong said. “Of our 450 shootings this year, 137 have been attributed to group and gang violence.”

At an Oakland Unified School District board meeting Wednesday night, the board addressed the school shooting, and members of the public spoke about the impact that gun violence has had on school communities. 

“Our young people have been expressing that they aren’t feeling safe, and besides, school safety should be the board’s priority,” said Linh Li, a student on the school board. “Our schools, our school sites, should not be easy to enter. No one should be able to enter our school with a gun.”

This story includes reporting from KQED’s Julia McEvoy.