murder

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September 13, 2011 | 12:56 PM | By

Oakland Police arrest four in May killing of gardener

Assistant Chief Howard Jordan, Sergeant Mike Gantt and Lieutenant Brian Medeiros discuss recent arrests in the May 20th killing of Antonio Torres.

This morning, Oakland Police announced the arrest of four teenagers – including three juveniles – who are being charged with the May 20 murder of Antonio Torres, a gardener who was working at a client’s home in the 1600 block of 34th Avenue.

David Hall, 19, is the only one of the four being tried as an adult. The other suspects are ages 15, 16 and 17, are being charged with murder as juveniles. The three juveniles have a hearing in juvenile court today for charges of murder. Hall is due in court today to face his own murder charges.

Police say Torres was slain for a gold chain and iPod he was wearing at the time of the attack. “They were out hunting for victims,” said Sgt. Gantt of the Homicide unit, who believes the four suspects are involved with other robberies and burglaries. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Police, Antonio Torres, murder, Oakland, Oakland Police Department
August 31, 2011 | 11:06 AM | By

Edson Lacayo, 29, murdered on Hampshire Street in the Mission

Craftside

San Francisco and Oakland are experiencing a violent summer

A 29-year-old man was shot to death shortly before 11:30 PM last night on the 800 block of Hampshire Street. The San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office identified the dead man as Edson Lacayo, a San Francisco resident.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, officers responding to reports of shots fired around 11:29 PM last night found Lacayo lying on the street with three gunshot wounds. Emergency medical personnel pronounced Lacayo dead at the scene.

Police are unsure whether the shooting is related to the murder of 22-year-old Gaspar Putch-Tzek, a cook who was killed on 19th and San Carlos Streets early Tuesday morning after being mistaken for a gang member.

Officer Carlos Manfredi, an SFPD spokesperson, said residents reported seeing two suspects running away from the scene in an unknown direction. No identifying information was provided for either suspects. Officer Manfredi said the death is being investigated by Homicide inspectors, but SFPD has not yet determined whether the shooting is gang related.

Lacayo’s murder is San Francisco’s 34th homicide of 2011, compared to 32 killings as of August 27th last year.

FILED UNDER: Police, Mission District, murder, San Francisco, San Francisco Police Department
August 26, 2011 | 11:44 AM | By

Murder in Bernal Heights, non-fatal shooting in the Mission Thursday PM

An 18-year old man was shot to death in a drive-by shooting on Alemany Boulevard in Bernal Heights shortly after noon on Thursday, and a 48-year-old man was wounded by gunfire on Mission and 18th Street later that evening. Kevin Hall, an 18-year-old San Francisco resident, was identified as the slain man by the Medical Examiner’s office this morning.

Hall’s killing is San Francisco’s 32nd murder of 2011.

According to San Francisco Police, Hall and another man were driving in a faded red Buick East on Alemany Boulevard around 12:30 PM. While stopped at the intersection of Alemany and Putnam Street, a silver, 2-door sedan pulled up alongside them. The passenger in the sedan, a black man wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt got out, walked up to the passenger window of the Buick and fired at Hall. Though his companion drove him to San Francisco General Hospital, Hall died from gunshot wounds.

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FILED UNDER: Police, Bernal Heights, Kevin Hall, Mission District, murder, San Francisco, San Francisco Police Department
August 9, 2011 | 1:15 PM | By

Children often fall victim to gunfire

Craftside

San Francisco and Oakland are experiencing a violent summer

Oakland is reeling today from the death of Carlos Fernandez Nava, the 3-year-old boy killed in a daytime drive-by shooting on 64th and International Boulevard that wounded two other men.

The killing was Oakland’s 67th homicide of the year and the second murder in three days, as the East Bay city struggles with rising gun violence and an understaffed police department. While the community has voiced anger with the recent bloodshed, Monday’s killing is evoking outrage because of the age of the victim.

The Oakland Tribune reported yesterday that the crowd at the scene starting yelling and screaming once they realized a young child had been shot. Another woman told a San Francisco Chronicle reporter about the threat of frequent gunplay to anyone out on the streets:

“Bullets ain’t got no name on it. When they’re flying, they could hit anyone.”

However, children are frequently the victim of gunfire. As pointed out by California Watch reporter Ryan Gabrielson last week, studies show gun violence claims are large number of juvenile victims.

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FILED UNDER: Community, Carlos Fernandez Nava, murder, Oakland, Oakland Police Department
August 2, 2011 | 6:22 PM | By

Bloody summer as gunfire increases in San Francisco and Oakland

Craftside

San Francisco and Oakland are experiencing a violent summer

The summer of 2011 has been anything but calm on both sides of the Bay. Gun violence is on the rise in both San Francisco and Oakland, with the East Bay’s largest city struggling to cope with a sharp jump in murders, shootings and armed robberies.

As of today, there have been 71 murders in Oakland this year, up from 52 at this point in 2010. There have been five murders alone since last Friday. The most recent set of Oakland Police Department statistics reveal a 39 percent increase in shootings from last year as of July 31st, with 303 incidents of gunfire reported to police compared to 218 at the same time in 2010.

While San Francisco’s 29 killings so far this year are only one more ahead of last year’s murder rate, gun violence is claiming more victims. 141 people have been struck by gunfire so far this year, up from 119 by the end of July 2010. Twenty-six shootings took place between June 5 and July 2nd, up from the fourteen in May.

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FILED UNDER: Police, gun violence, murder, murder rate, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, San Francisco, San Francisco Police Department
June 24, 2011 | 12:18 PM | By

West Oakland murder is the 6th in a week

lawreports.co.uk

An unidentified man was shot to death in West Oakland last night, marking the city’s sixth murder in a week.

Around 9:17 PM last night, Oakland Police officers arrived at the 1100 block of 24th Street, in between Market and Adeline, in response to gunfire. A 27-year-old Oakland man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds was found at the scene and pronounced dead by medical personnel.

Yesterday’s homicide comes hard on the heels of Rodnelle Hampton’s murder in East Oakland on Tuesday. Hampton, a 19-year-old resident of San Leandro, was killed while driving in the 2200 block of A Street. On Monday, 28-year-old Christopher Ingram was shot to death near the Eastmont Mall, and 18-year-old Dionte Freeman was killed in a drive-by shooting that afternoon in Ghost Town.

There have been no arrests in any of the six murders this past week. According to OPD, there have been 51 murders in the city this year, compared to 41 at this point in 2010.

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FILED UNDER: Police, East Oakland, Ghost Town, murder, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, West Oakland
June 21, 2011 | 2:44 PM | By

Two murders in Oakland overnight: body found floating off Fort Mason

[UPDATE 6/23/11: The dead man found in the water off Fort Mason has been identified as 20-year-old Dennis Knowlton of Olympia, Washington]

Two people were shot to death in Oakland on Monday at opposite ends of the city. The first murder took place around noon yesterday on Bancroft and 73rd Avenues, close to the Oakland Police Eastmont Substation. 28-year-old Christopher Ingram, a Fairfield resident, was taken to Highland Hospital with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead around 12:45 PM.

Roughly eight hours later, a gunman fired from a moving car at a crowd gathered in the 800 block of  32nd Street in Ghost Town. 18-year-old Dionte Freeman was fatally shot, and a pregnant 21-year-old woman and two 18-year-old men were also wounded by gunfire.

Aside from the two murders, there were two unrelated shootings in East Oakland, one on the 10700 block of Pippin Street around 2 AM this morning, the other around 9 PM on 84th Avenue near International Boulevard. The victims in both shootings suffered non-fatal wounds.

San Francisco Police are also investigating the death of a 20-year-old white man found in the water off Fort Mason this morning as a homicide. SFPD received a call around 6:30 AM this morning of a corpse floating near a pier by Fort Mason. Lieutenant Troy Dangerfield said the death may be linked to a trail of blood leading from a post office at Beach Street and Broadway to the Fort Mason Center parking lot. On Wednesday, the San Francisco Medical Examiner identified the dead man as Dennis Knowlton of Olympia, Washington.

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FILED UNDER: Police, East Oakland, Ghost Town, Marina, Mission, murder, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, San Francisco, San Francisco Police Department
June 16, 2011 | 4:02 PM | By

Oakland man murdered last night: Sweet Jimmie’s shooting suspect arrested

Craftside

30-year-old Germaine Latchison was shot to death last night in the East Oakland neighborhood of  Sobrante Park. Latchison was found by officers responding to reports of shots fired in the 600 block of El Paseo Drive around 11:30 PM. He had been struck once by gunfire and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Earlier today, OPD announced they are holding  22-year-old Oakland resident Clem Thompkins in connection with the April 25th murders of Billie Jenkins and Adam Williams at Sweet Jimmie’s near Jack London Square. Jenkins, 27, and Williams, 23, were fatally wounded when a gunman armed with an assault rifle opened fire in the restaurant. Five other people were wounded in the incident.

Thompkins was arrested in Richmond yesterday by SWAT officers from the Richmond Police Department. He is being charged with two counts of murder by the Alameda County District Attorney.

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FILED UNDER: Police, murder, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, Sweet Jimmie's