Vigil Remembers Slain Oakland City Council President's Grandson
OAKLAND (CBS SF) – Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney was among several dozen people who attended a candlelight prayer vigil early Thursday evening for her grandson, a teen who was fatally shot near the West Oakland BART station last weekend.
17-year-old Torian Hughes briefly attended McClymonds High School in West Oakland this past fall and was in an independent study program at the time of his death. He was shot in the 900 block of Mandela Parkway at about 1:40 p.m. on Sunday and was taken by paramedics to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
In a posting on Facebook, McElhaney invited the public to the prayer vigil for Hughes that started at 5:30 p.m. Thursday night at Mandela Parkway and 10th Street, near the location where he was shot.
The posting said, "Please join us in honoring the life of my beloved grandson Torian Dajour Hughes."
Dozens attended the vigil, with family members offering tearful remembrances of the teen.
In a separate posting, McElhaney said, "Thank you all for your outpouring of support as we mourn the untimely death of my 17-year-old grandson, Torian."
She said, "His death, and the shootings throughout Oakland that followed over the past two days (Sunday and Monday), only strengthen my resolve for eradicating gun violence in our city. None of us, not one of us is immune. This crisis can be reversed."
McElhaney said, "Please keep our families in prayer. Torian has two younger brothers and a host of cousins, parents, aunts, uncles and loves ones who are deeply impacted by his death."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help support the teen's family.
Oakland police haven't released any information about a motive or suspects in the fatal shooting.
