The neighborhood is mourning the lack of a 23-month-old boy who was killed Sunday afternoon by a stray bullet on Interstate 880 in Oakland whereas his mom was on the wheel and he slept in his automotive seat.
The sufferer whose household recognized him as Jasper Wu sustained a gunshot wound and was rushed to Oakland Youngsters’s Hospital. The California Freeway Patrol stated Saturday night that the kid later died from the gunshot wound.
Neighborhood activists held a vigil Monday night time in reminiscence of the boy at sixth and Market streets proper beneath the freeway the place he died.
“That is simply an excessive amount of,” Leanne Louie, founding father of United Peace Collaborative, instructed KTVU. “Sufficient is sufficient. Everybody’s obtained to cease, step again and have a look at what’s occurring to our neighborhood proper now.”
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf stated the Oakland Police Division and CHP are working collectively to trace down the shooter or shooters concerned.
“To lose a 23-month-old to gun violence is as heart-wrenching and as sickening because it will get,” Schaaf wrote on Twitter. “As a mom and as a mayor, I’m devastated by the totality of human loss and trauma brought on by gun violence in our society.”
The Oakland Police Officer’s Affiliation stated in assertion Monday that regardless of town’s violent crime wave, the division is shrinking in measurement, shedding about 10 officers a month. Town has seen 119 homicides to this point this yr, in comparison with 109 in all of final yr.
“Oakland’s unhappy actuality has turn out to be back-to-back violent tragedies. First, a mass capturing and homicide Friday, an harmless toddler murdered on Saturday, adopted by one other homicide that night. No marvel Oakland’s Chamber of Commerce ballot discovered that greater than 2 in 3 Oakland voters don’t really feel secure.* This actuality was created by the “defund the police” majority on town council, who’ve deserted public security in Oakland.” stated Oakland Police Officers’ Affiliation President Barry Donelan.
The California Freeway Patrol held a information convention Monday and CHP Capt. Mike Lehman inspired the general public to come back ahead with any info they’ve on the capturing.
Lehman supplied no new details about the incident and declined to reply questions from reporters about it, saying he couldn’t touch upon an ongoing investigation.
Lehman didn’t problem a reporter’s assertion that there have been 76 shootings recorded on highways in Oakland up to now 12 months, however he insisted the general public ought to really feel secure driving on highways within the metropolis.
When pressed by that very same reporter about why folks ought to really feel secure given the statistics, Lehman stated, “The explanation you must really feel secure are the possibilities of this occurring should not excessive.”
Anybody with details about the capturing is requested to please name the CHP Investigation Tip Line at (707) 917-4491.
Bay Metropolis Information contributed to this story.
