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Fender-Bender May Have Led To 2011 Oakland Murder

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Oakland police released a video Thursday in connection with the death of an Oakland man who was shot after he accidentally bumped into another car in front of a convenience store on West Street last December.

Charles Butler, 23, was gunned down on the 4600 block of West Street at 10:30 a.m. by a passenger in the car Butler had bumped into while trying to parallel park in front of the store several blocks from the shooting, police said.

The video shows Butler nudging an early 1990s Lexus LS 400, either dark green or black in color, as Butler was parking. A person on the driver's side raised his arms at Butler as if to ask what happened.

Butler, dressed in a white hooded sweatshirt, then exited his car and entered the store. The man who was the passenger in the Lexus followed him into the store, police said.

Butler is then shown standing in the store before leaving to get back into his car. The passenger is seen standing outside the store watching him.

The victim then performed a U-turn and drives out of the range of the camera. The passenger can then be seen running up the sidewalk in the direction of Butler's car.

Moments later, Butler, while still in his car, was shot several times by someone in the suspect car.

He then crashed into two cars. His vehicle caught fire and firefighters arrived to extinguish it. He was taken to a hospital where he died later of his injuries.

Two suspects who were in the Lexus are wanted in connection with the homicide, police said. Both are described as African-American males in their early 20s. One appears to be about 5 foot 7 inches tall and about 200 pounds, the other 6 feet 2 inches tall and 170 pounds.

Police urge anyone with information about this incident to contact Oakland Police's Major Crimes Section at (510) 238-3821.

(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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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