4 Suspects Arrested In Shootings That Left Toddlers Wounded In Seperate Oakland Shootings
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Four suspects, all young males, have been arrested in connection with two separate shooting incidents in East Oakland on Monday night in which young children were injured, police chief Sean Whent said Tuesday.
Joined by Oakland Mayor Jean Quan at a news conference near the corner of 83rd Avenue and A Street, Whent said, "The shooting of two young children is absolutely unacceptable. The violence against children in the community has to stop."
The good news is that the injuries suffered by a 2-year-old boy in one incident and a 3-year-old boy in another incident are not life-threatening and they are expected to recover, Whent said.
The first incident occurred in the 6500 block of International Boulevard at about 5:11 p.m. on Monday.
Police said the 3-year-old boy and his mother were waiting for a bus when a gun battle erupted between groups of people. Whent said the boy and his mother weren't the intended targets in the shooting.
The boy suffered a minor wound as did a 20-year-old man who was standing nearby, according to police.
Whent said one suspect in the incident was arrested for his involvement in the shooting and another suspect was arrested because he had an outstanding felony warrant.
He said there are additional suspects who are still at large.
The second incident occurred in the 900 block of 83rd Avenue at about 10 p.m. Monday.
Whent said armed men broke into a home that the 2-year-old boy and his mother were visiting and began shooting.
Police believe the motive for the shooting was "a personal dispute" between the suspects in the shooting and the people who live at the house, Whent said.
Two men have been arrested in connection with the shooting but police are looking for additional suspects in that incident as well, Whent said.
The house where the shooting took place is just a couple blocks away from where 15-year-old Samantha Alvarado was fatally shot in a car shortly before 10:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Mourners have placed flowers, candles and balloons at that site, near the intersection of 83rd Avenue and A Street.
Quan said that although Oakland's murder rate has declined in the past year the shooting of the two young children "reminds us that there's too much violence and too many guns."
Quan said, "Even one incident is too much and we have to get guns out of homes."
Whent said he agrees that "guns are far too prevalent in the community" and he believes that illegal guns are the biggest crime problem in Oakland.
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