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Oakland Woman Killed By Stray Bullet Identified As Grandmother

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Oakland police said Thursday that they are urging witnesses to come forward to help solve the fatal shooting of a woman who was struck by errant gunfire on a busy street in East Oakland Wednesday night.

Sgt. Chris Bolton said Ramona Foreman, 48, was walking along the north sidewalk of the 9100 block of International Boulevard, in front of Oakland's 92nd Avenue Head Start office, when she was hit by gunfire shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Foreman was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

Bolton said the suspect or suspects in the case fired weapons from across the street but police haven't yet determined why they opened fire or at whom they were shooting.

He said, "We believe witnesses and information exist—we are urging people to come forward."

The shooting occurred just over a block away from where 50-year-old Wilbur Bartley was killed at his cellphone store, Marcus Cellular, at 9230 International Blvd., at about 7:20 p.m. on Oct. 31, as he was closing his store.

When Felicia Gordon, who lives in the neighborhood, walked by the spot where the woman was killed Wednesday night, she told reporters, "Whoever did this should think about what could happen to their own parents. This woman's kids and grandkids will never see her again."

Gordon said Foreman "was just a bystander but still her life is gone."

Her voice rising, she said, "People need to think before they react. They killed an innocent person."

Gordon said if two groups of people want to shoot at each other "they should do it somewhere else" so that innocent bystanders aren't killed.

Gordon said, "It could have been anybody who was killed. I'm walking with my daughter right now."

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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