OAKLAND, Calif. — An 18-year-old man died and four other people were wounded Monday after a shooting in an East Oakland gas station where a music video was being filmed, authorities said.
The 18-year-old, who died after arriving at an area hospital, was identified Tuesday as Mario Navarro.
None of the wounds suffered by the others was considered to be life-threatening, authorities said. The injured victims were being treated at several East Bay hospitals; all were said to be in stable condition.
Those who were shot included one female and four males, ranging in age from 19 to 56, with most being in their late teens and early 20s, authorities said. Some live in Oakland, while addresses listed for the others include San Leandro, Livermore, South San Francisco, Vallejo and San Jose.
A driver and passengers were injured after they were involved in a solo vehicle accident while they were fleeing the scene, Oakland police Acting Chief Darren Allison said at a news conference Tuesday.
An Oakland police spokeswoman said Monday night that investigators had found that eight people were struck by gunfire. However, Allison said at his news conference that the actual number of people struck by bullets was five.
Of the four people injured, Allison said only one remained hospitalized as of midday Tuesday. Three owners of recent businesses reported that their buildings were struck by gunfire.
The shooting happened just before 6:10 p.m. at a Valero gas station in the 5900 block of MacArthur Boulevard at Seminary Avenue.
Police responding to ShotSpotter activations found no victims at the scene but soon received reports of multiple people managing to obtain their own transportation to hospitals for treatment.
Dozens of shell casings, including those from a low-caliber weapon and a rifle, were found at the scene, Allison said. Police believe there was more than one shooter who opened fire on a group gathered at the station to film a music video.
At the Tuesday news conference, Allison said that the shooting was being investigated as a targeted incident. Allison said the department had a “good sense on the involved parties, as far as groups and gangs. We’re not prepared to release it at this time.”
Tuesday morning, residents in the area decried the violence and the both the danger and focus it brings on people who are trying to live their lives.
“This right here is an underserved neighborhood. This is the only time we get any kind of attention — when something crazy happens,” said Jerald W. Vallan Sr., an architectural designer and longtime Millsmont resident who owns a storefront business across the street from the gas station.
The glass door to Vallan's shop showed a crack around a hole created when a bullet pierced it during the shooting. He found the shell casing from the bullet inside his store Tuesday morning and called OPD for a crime scene technician to collect it.
Police were recovering surveillance-camera footage at the scene. Evidence technicians had taped off the station’s parking area and pumps late Monday, with dozens of yellow evidence markers scattered across the pavement.
Two witnesses, including one who identified himself as the gas station’s owner but declined to give his name, told the Bay Area News Group that it appeared that several people had been filming a music video shortly before gunfire broke out. Police did not comment directly on what preceded the shooting, but did ask for anyone with “video pertaining to the incident” to contact investigators.
The killing is the sixth homicide investigated by Oakland police this year.
Police had investigated nine homicides within the city at this same point in 2022.
Monday’s shooting is only one of several mass shootings in Oakland in recent memory. A mass shooting is generally defined as a single incident with four or more victims.
Last year, Oakland had at least two such shootings. In November, two Berkeley brothers, ages 15 and 17, were fatally shot at a North Oakland house party where two others were also wounded. A shooting in September in East Oakland left four people wounded, but all survived.
On average, Oakland had four mass shootings a year between 2016 and 2020. In 2021 there were at least a half-dozen, including a 16-year-old girl and a 19-year-old woman who were killed and six other women injured in May when gunmen targeted a party bus in East Oakland.
The highest number of homicide victims in one shooting in recent memory was seven students fatally shot at an Oakland university by another student in April of 2012.
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $30,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of suspects in Monday’s shooting. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3821 or 510-238-7950 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.
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