The shooting occurred at Rudsdale Newcomer high school, one of the four high schools that served high school and middle school students in Fontaine Street in east Oakland. The authorities have declared that at least six people were injured and three were in critical condition.
It is alarming how gun violence has crept into the high school system full of teenagers who should be wary of violence, rather than the perpetrators.
Oakland assistant police chief, Darren Allison said that the school assisted students who were at risk of not graduating and have recently immigrated to the US after fleeing their home countries because of unrest and instability.
Relaying information, Allison said:
“The victims were affiliated with the school and we are determining the affiliation at this time.”
Paramedics transported six patients to hospitals, all with gunshot wounds, according to Oakland fire department spokesperson Michael Hunt.
The Oakland Police Department released a statement saying:
“The Oakland Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred in the 8200 block of Fontaine Street. We are asking our Community Members to please avoid the area at this time. PIO is on the way to scene. Media we will update with staging area.”
Cities in California have been plagued with gun violence and school shootings during the past years. By the end of 2020, 102 people were killed, 24 more than the year before.
So far this year, at least 96 people have been killed, mostly with guns.
In 2021, many youths under the age of 20 were killed by gun violence, including 18-year-old Demetrius Fleming-Davis, an Oakland native who was shot and killed while riding in the back of a truck.
On Tuesday, LeRonne Armstrong, Oakland’s chief of police, announced plans to deal with the city’s ongoing gun chaos by bolstering officers’ presence in areas where gun violence and school shooting is centralized and where police think people are involved in shootings frequently.
