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Elderly Man Found Dead Inside Oakland Hills Home

OAKLAND (CBS SF) - A 78-year-old man was found dead in his home in the Oakland Hills Thursday morning, and police are investigating the death as a possible homicide, police said.

The discovery came after a particularly violent night in Oakland that saw five separate shootings in less than 12 hours.

Housing records indicate Joseph Robertson owned the home in the 2300 block of Thackeray Drive. Robertson was found dead at 7:18 a.m.

A neighbor on the quiet street in Oakland's Montclair neighborhood who declined to be named said that police told him that Robertson's door had been found kicked in.

Police have not confirmed that or other details about the case.

The resident said neighborhood groups have recently alerted people living in the area about a string of break-ins and robberies in which doors were kicked in.

"As we can best tell, these people ring your doorbell and rattle your door and if you don't make any answer to the inquiry they kick your door in," said the neighbor, who declined to be named.

According to neighbors, Robertson was a sweet, soft-spoken man who had no enemies. He had drawn for the neighborhood newspaper, the Montclarion, for 20 years.

Oakland Police Major Crimes Section Investigators were called to the scene. Anyone with information was asked to contact the investigators at (510) 238-3821.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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