Oakland Mass Shooting Leaves Community in Shock

East Bay residents mourned the two victims of a mass shooting at a downtown Oakland bar early Saturday morning — an eighth-grade teacher and a young father — according to friends and family of the victims.

The shooting occurred around 3:30 a.m., according to a report from KTVU, at EZ’s lounge on 14th Street. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the incident also left five others injured.

One of the victims, Latetia Bobo, 33, was an eighth-grade English Language Arts teacher at San Pablo’s Caliber Beta Academy, a K-8 charter school, which announced a schoolwide closure on Monday in honor of Bobo’s memory.

The other victim, Markise Martin, 25, was a father to a 1-year-old girl, according to a GoFundMe campaign posted by his brother, Lawrence Mcgee. Martin’s brother did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The GoFundMe post described Martin as “always there for his family when needed, offering support and love without hesitation.”

“His presence brought comfort and strength to those around him, and he was truly such a caring soul underneath his tough exterior,” it continued.

Caliber Beta parent Robin DeGarcia, whose two children were both in Bobo’s classes, said she took the lead in organizing student trips, events like prom, and prepared eighth-graders to apply to high school.

DeGarcia said that there’s “not one person who’s going to be able to step in and help what she had built.”

“She built a relationship with all of these children,” DeGarcia said, one “severed so quickly at what’s supposed to be starting the fun time of their eighth-grade year.”

Caliber Beta Academy assistant and substitute teacher Paulie “Coach K” Kennedy said he often assisted Bobo when she was busy. Kennedy said Bobo was a teacher whom he aspires to be like, having frequently asked her for advice.

“She was strict as she expected a lot out of you,” Kennedy said. “She would ask questions that made you think inside and introspectively and think, ‘How can I better myself?’”

If Caliber asked him to fill her position, Kennedy said, he would honor her legacy by pushing the students to be the best they can be.

“Sometimes they say when people are called above, it means it’s their time,” Kennedy added. “They’ve done enough good on this earth, and she’s one of those few people.”

Sofala Mayfield, a music producer, called Bobo by her stage name: “Teesh.” He was with her at a First Friday event, the night before she was killed, Mayfield said, but they parted ways around 8 p.m. when his daughter got tired.

Mayfield questioned how the bar, EZ’s Lounge, was still open — he cited the California code prohibiting the sale of alcohol past 2 a.m. and called for the city of Oakland to take accountability.

“Law-abiding citizens don’t want to be held hostage by the violence and dysfunction that’s taking place in this city right now,” Mayfield said. He said online comments suggesting that victims of gun violence ‘shouldn’t have been outside’ make it seem as if “it’s a crime to enjoy your life in the city of Oakland.”

According to Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Roberto Morales, there is a “hold on all information on the shooting.”