Six people were injured Wednesday in a shooting at a school in East Oakland, California, police said.
All six victims had gunshot wounds and were transported to local hospitals, the Oakland Police Department said at a news conference. All were adults believed to be affiliated with the school, Oakland Police Department Deputy Chief Darren Allison said, though officials did not say if any students were 18 or older. .
Allison said the shooting happened around 12:45 a.m. at the Rudsdale Newcomer High School portion of the King Estates campus, which is home to four schools that also include Sojourner Truth Independent Study and BayTech Charter School. Investigators are working to determine how the shooting progressed, Allison said, noting that some victims were inside the building.
“Today’s gun violence at Sojourner Truth School is soul-stirring: Our schools are sanctuaries for our children,” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a tweet. “The rampant access to firearms in our country is inexcusable.”
Two victims had life-threatening injuries and one person had been released from the hospital by Wednesday afternoon, Allison said at a news conference. Two other people were awaiting discharge from the hospital and the last victim had non-life threatening injuries.
SEVEN 27:1 dead, 4 injured after shooting near Philadelphia high school, authorities say
DEMAND:Highland Park 4th of July parade shooting victims, families demand gun maker
Allison said officials were looking for at least one shooter, though he said more suspects could be involved. No one had been arrested as of Wednesday. The school was cleared and the situation is not active, officials said.
John Sasaki, a spokesman for the Oakland Unified School District, said in a statement that district officials “have no information beyond what Oakland police are reporting.” He said the Sojourner Truth Independent Study headquarters has no students.
Outside a nearby church turned into a makeshift student-parent reunion, Oakland City Councilors Loren Taylor and Treva Reid met with frustrated teachers, parents and community leaders fed up with the rash of shootings plaguing the city, including eight homicides over the past eight years. day interval
“This is way beyond crisis point,” said Taylor, who is running for mayor and lives nearby.
“We have to make sure we have all hands on deck to fight these guns and bullets that are flying. It’s going to require early intervention and eyes and ears on the ground,” Taylor said. “Keeping our residents safe must be our top priority.”
Reid, whose district is where the school shooting took place, said she ran to the school while police searched to see if the shooters were still at the scene.
“You’re highlighting here where the principals were in shock, they don’t have the answers. They’re processing having to use their hands to save the lives of the victims they had before,” he said. “Now we have to work to restore that trust so that students, their parents and faculty can come back to this campus. When is that going to happen? I can’t tell you.”
He said city and school officials are already developing strategies to address the needs of those schools. Overall, Reid said the past few weeks of deadly violence have been emotionally draining for the city.
“Processing all the homicides and being on the scene still seeing the bodies of loved ones on the ground, it’s traumatizing,” Reid said. “We certainly feel the weight of our community. They have the feeling of being held hostage. They can’t leave the house, they can’t go to the park, they can’t go to the gas station, they can’t go to the grocery store.
“And now parents feel like they can’t take their kids to school and have peace, safety and security. This crippling weight of this violence is affecting all of us, especially those on this campus.”
Contributor: The Associated Press
